Following Kyuubi's Footsteps
by iamemeraldfox
Summary: The Hokage and Iruka-sensei were concerned about the Scroll of Seals, and in between the commotion and injuries, they somehow forgot to explain to Naruto that NO, he isn't the Kyuubi. The Kyuubi is just sealed inside him. So now Naruto is convinced he is a demon and plans his life accordingly.
1. Chapter 1

When all the commotion was over and Iruka in the hospital, Naruto could finally go home. Once in his own silent apartment, he sat on his bed, his head in his hands.

Mizuki's words were still ringing in his ears.

"You are the Nine Tailed Fox. Nobody told you, but they all hate you. They will never accept you!"

Iruka-sensei accepted him, even liked him, Hokage-jiji too.

But…

Naruto didn't quite get it. They accepted him despite being the Kyuubi? He killed… all those people. He must have, they taught about the Kyuubi attack in the Academy. And the deaths during it. Did Hokage-jiji and Iruka-sensei like him, because he didn't remember? He was a demon all his life and because he never knew, so he wasn't dangerous? Is that why no one ever told him?

Naruto pushed the heels of his palms into his eyes, until it hurt and black spots appeared under his eyelids. He couldn't go to sleep. There was no way he could sleep after a day like this.

Usually Naruto didn't like to think too hard about painful things. It only made it worse. It was easier to smile and prank the mean people, then make a nice bowl of ramen. Now, he couldn't stop his mind.

 _Demon_.

He thought he could ask Iruka-sensei what kind of demon Kyuubi was. And if he really was the Kyuubi, or maybe the Fourth Hokage made him… good? Not evil? Human?

But he didn't dare. No one told him in the first place, why would they tell him anything now? What if they were afraid he might attack them? No one at the Academy liked telling and explaining him things, he remembered now. Was it because they didn't want a demon to know?

Outside, it was morning already. Birds started chirping and he could see the first shopkeepers opening bakeries and such. Naruto was tired, having not slept a wink and practising Kage Bunshin all night. He stood, suddenly determined to figure this all out on his own.

* * *

The Academy was empty when he sneaked into it. It was very early and classes wouldn't be starting for another week, when all that graduated would meet with their new teams and all that were still in the Academy started the new year. The only one that might catch him in the act was one of the teachers, but without Iruka-sensei and Mizuki, even that was unlikely.

Naruto slipped into the library, a room he didn't visit all that often if he could help it. The last time he was there, Iruka-sensei made him do an assignment he had been postponing for two weeks.

Luckily for Naruto, the system of finding books and scrolls was fairly simple, meant for kids ages six and up to about twelve. He quickly found an account of the Kyuubi attack. Reading it now, knowing it was (most likely) him, it was horrifying. The Kyuubi appeared in the middle of Konoha, its great tails waving and destroying buildings left and right. Ninjas tried to fight it, but no jutsu worked and many were killed before they even completed their technique. It was a bloodbath until the Fourth arrived and killed it. But now Naruto knew, Kyuubi wasn't killed. It couldn't be killed. It was sealed instead, into him. Made into a baby.

Turning the page, he saw a picture taken that night. It was a picture of a fox, huge and towering over the village. It was red-orange, with sharp white teeth and red slitted eyes. Each of its nine tails was as long as it was.

That was him? He looked like that? He was… scary!

Naruto's breathing picked up, his heart thundering in terror. He was afraid of _himself_!

Under the picture, there was a date. October tenth. His birthday.

He froze.

Did… did Hokage-jiji tell him he was born on that day, because that was the day he became human? Was his birthday… the day he attacked all those people? And he celebrated it, like it was a happy day?

Maybe, he thought with tears in his eyes, for Kyuubi it was. It liked killing, didn't it? So, other than dying/being sealed, it might be a happy day for it.

Or it was a happy day for Konoha instead, celebrating when they defeated it? Defeated _him_?

Naruto didn't know anymore.

He sat there, shaking over the book, trying to do anything he usually did to make himself feel better. But he couldn't grin, and his stomach felt too queasy to eat even ramen.

He stood and slammed the book closed. No more crying. He would try to find another book. What was (he) the Kyuubi like before attacking Konoha? Maybe it wasn't so bad? Naruto wasn't really evil, after all. It might be a mistake?

After some searching, he found a book of legends and spirits. It was an old, crumbling scroll, titled simply Youkai. It didn't look like it was used recently, not being a ninja book and all. Inside, Naruto found an entry on Kitsune.

 _...kitsune are spirit foxes, known for many magical abilities. They are masters of illusion, often leading people astray or causing mischief. Their illusions are said to be so powerful humans can't distinguish them from reality…_

 _...fox wives are foxes of either gender, who had taken human form, usually beautiful girls and women. They are known to seduce and even marry human men, who cannot resist them…_

 _...kitsune in human form often have trouble hiding signs of their supernatural origins. They might have a tail or light short fur on their bodies, or their faces are fox-like…_

 _...foxes may have as many as nine tails. It is thought they gain additional tail every hundred years, increasing in power and wisdom…_

 _...foxes have the ability to use fire and lightning, called_ kitsunebi…

 _...malevolent foxes can be appeased by offering them gifts and making them a shrine. They accept gifts of food, fruits and sake. They are always hungry…_

 _...kitsune may possess people or take their shape, manifest in people's dreams, become invisible and even fly…_

Naruto stared, wide eyed. He really was a fox. He was Kyuubi no Kitsune. He had whisker marks on his cheeks, his most powerful technique until the night before was Oiroke no Jutsu, made to deceive men. It even worked on the Hokage! Everyone screamed at him when he used it, and glared, but it still worked. He liked to prank mean people. He was always hungry and felt satisfied when he ate ramen. He had always been great at Henge and his Kage Bunshin were really good, everyone said so, and they were illusions that looked real.

He was the Kyuubi no Kitsune and he was sealed into human form. And everyone but kids his age and younger knew it.

Eyes downcast, he put everything back, except for the Youkai scroll, which he stashed into his kunai pouch. Then he fled.

* * *

He spent the rest of the day in the woods, watching his reflection in a small pond and rubbing his whiskered cheeks. He stripped his clothes and searched himself all over, but could find nothing else fox-like. In just his undies, he laid in the sun and read over the scroll, again.

Some things sounded horrible, but… _kitsunebi_ would be awesome to master. Naruto imagined a huge ball of fire and lightning he could fling at his opponents. And flying, flying sounded cool, too. And pranks with unbeatable illusions. He promised no pranks once he became genin, but now he figured trickery was in his blood. Why _shouldn't_ he trick people?

He would show them! He might be a demon, but he will be the best ninja demon ever!

Thus decided, he threw himself into training. He tried Kage Bunshin again, then Oiroke, noticing that as a girl he kept the whisker marks. He tried making fire as well, gathering his chakra in his palm and making throwing motions. Nothing happened. After a dozen tries, he sat down, pouting.

"Oi, you! Boss!" shouted one of the clones.

"What?" asked Naruto.

"What is that on your stomach?"

He looked down. Directly over his belly button, there was a spiral, surrounded by eight scribbles. If he squinted, it looked kind of like a sun, its rays thick and uneven.

"That… that's got to be the seal. Like Mizuki said. The one that seals me in human form." He gulped. _Scary_!

The Fourth Hokage made that seal. Naruto always thought of the Fourth as his hero. But… the Fourth wanted to kill him. And when he couldn't, he sealed him and turned him into a baby. And now the whole village hated him.

How could he reconcile that?

The next few days, Naruto spent a lot of time thinking. He was the Kyuubi, but he didn't want to be evil. He didn't want to kill people. He read that some foxes were nice and benevolent, guardian spirits. Maybe he could be like that too? If his spirit was evil, maybe he could calm it down? So on the third day, Naruto built a shrine. He emptied his bedside table, since it was more of a tiny closet, and a perfect hiding place for a shrine of a demon fox. He covered its insides with an orange fabric, put inside a picture of the Kyuubi torn from a book, beside it a white fox mask he bought under a Henge, and a blue candle representing the _kitsunebi_. In front of the shrine, he put a fancy but chipped sake cup he found in the trash, some incense sticks, and an Ofuda he copied from the scroll, said to calm malevolent spirits.

First he gave himself a thorough cleaning, again as instructed, even behind the ears and especially carefully around his belly button. He lighted the candle and incense, then kneeled before his shrine and bowed twice and clapped twice as well. The scroll said that now he should pray, but he felt weird praying to himself. In a feat of inspiration he lifted his shirt and stared at his empty stomach. Maybe he should pray to his sealed part, the part of him he couldn't remember? Squinting, he decided on a Tiger hand seal, because tigers are the most like foxes of all the hand seals he knew, and also it is often in fire jutsus. (He knew that because Sasuke-teme wouldn't shut up about it when they were learning hand seals.)

Concentrating on the hand seal, he called his chakra until his seal appeared on his belly. Then he sat still, full of gathered chakra, and thought very hard.

" _I know I'm a demon. I am a Nine Tailed Demon Fox trapped in this human body. But I don't want to be evil. I don't want to kill and destroy. I want to be a guardian fox, I want to protect people. I like to play pranks on mean humans, and eat lots of ramen. And one day I want to be the nicest and strongest kitsune in the world!"_

For a moment, he thought he felt a flash of heat behind his seal. He grinned.

This is totally going to work!

* * *

 **I always found it interesting that in all the fics and in canon, Naruto's panic about being the Kyuubi lasts a very short amount of time. As in, 5 seconds. Even if, in canon (if I know it right) he never gets a more detailed explanation. Iruka says Naruto isn't a monster, because he is a good boy. But since he IS a jinchuuriki, here Naruto understands the whole thing a little differently.**


	2. Chapter 2

Kitsunebi was proving tricky. He had no idea how to master it. It's not as if he could ask anyone, or read it in a book.

He sat in the same abandoned clearing with the pond, thinking. Fire. What did he know about fire? The Uchiha liked fire. He scrunched his face, trying to remember. Right. Sasuke-teme demonstrated a jutsu once, without actually doing it, in the classroom. There was a Tiger hand seal, among others, and… two fingers in front of his mouth for some reason? At least Naruto thought so.

Of course! As a fox, he didn't use hands, he used his mouth! Maybe the fire should come from his throat instead. Climbing to his feet, he concentrated on a Tiger seal and gathered his chakra in his throat. He inhaled a large amount of air, feeling a weird tickling sensation in his mouth. Then he exhaled.

It came out in a ROAR! Naruto lost concentration and tripped over himself in fright, landing on his butt. The gathered chakra, now without direction, exploded inside his mouth, prompting a coughing fit. Naruto doubled over, gasping and coughing, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.

When he finally calmed down, his lungs still screaming at him, he sat there and just blinked. He could roar?

Awesome! He sounded dangerous, truly demon-like. The roar has been deep and loud, super scary. Naruto found himself grinning. It wasn't fire, but it will have to do.

And now he wanted to know how he looked when roaring. Did he look like a fox? Maybe he should do it again, over the pond, so he could look at himself. Or even better!

Grasping the ingenious idea, he made a bunch of clones.

"You!" he pointed at the one closest to him. "You remember what I did when I roared? Well go on, do it!"

"Boss?" interrupted another clone.

"What?"

"We should roar a little quieter. Or ninja will come after us, and they don't like demons, remember?"

"Oh… Right! Then you do it, but quieter," commanded Naruto.

The first clone grumbled, slightly offended at being dismissed in favour of another.

The chosen clone readied himself, hands in a seal, gathered chakra, and roared. It came out more as a wheeze.

The first clone went down, laughing and pointing.

The wheezing clone glared. "Shut up, you!"

"Right, everyone! Again, next!" called Naruto.

And so it went, each clone trying something new, some less chakra, some more. Some just exhaling, some trying a human roar and then changing it. Sometimes it failed, sometimes it was just human yelling, but in the end, they managed a decent roar. It needed just enough chakra, concentrated in his voice box without him making noise. The amount and speed of the exhaled air regulated the loudness and sound.

It was so COOL!

It even looked awesome. The chakra in the roar opened his mouth wide, showing teeth, his whisker marks standing out in stark relief.

Naruto didn't know when was the last time he had so much fun. The other Narutos were almost like his friends, with different opinions, and even if sometimes they argued with him, they always listened to him and did what he ordered. It was… nice. It was like having friends. At least he thought so…

And now he was super hungry. Ramen!

* * *

This grandson twerp was annoying. He kept following him around ever since Naruto yelled at him, like some lost puppy. And now he wanted Naruto to teach him. Hah! Impossible. Naruto was a demon fox, no way a human could learn such awesome techniques.

"Come on, Boss, please?!" whined the kid.

Boss?

His clones called him boss, and they did whatever he told them to. This should be useful.

"Oi, kid. What does that stuck up teacher teach you, if you really don't like him?"

"Huh?" asked Konohamaru, confused.

"Come on. I'm your boss now, so tell me all that you know, and we will go from there," Naruto commanded, chest puffed up. It worked like a charm.

.

They ended up in a clearing, with Konohamaru explaining all he knew about chakra and fire and lightning.

"Well, Ebisu-sensei says that chakra in a body is aligned to one element more than the others. There are five elements: earth, wind, fire, water, lightning. Some ninja are aligned to two or more elements, but it's rare. And some bloodlines have chakra that they inherit, like a child from their parents, and the whole family have the same ability. In Konoha, fire affinity is the most common. But not all ninja are good with elements, it's just easier for them to learn the jutsus for that element. Like my uncle, for example. He is wind natured, he uses some wind jutsus, but he fights with taijutsu, and he has knives that channel wind chakra and are super strong. Soo… is this what you wanted to know?"

Naruto ignored him, thinking. Elemental chakra, huh? He obviously has fire and lightning affinity, but maybe wind too, if kitsune can fly? Hmmm.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" demanded Konohamaru.

"Yeah, yeah, kid. So, let's try it."

"Try what?"

"Elemental chakra, of course," huffed Naruto. Was this kid slow or something?

"You can't do that! My teacher said it's too advanced. You have to be chuunin at least, to master elemental chakra."

"Uh-huh. And how much did you learn under him again? You said I was your boss." Naruto crossed his arms. "Well? Are you gonna train, or just slack off?"

"I'll train! Boss!" shouted Konohamaru.

They tried experimenting with wind chakra first. Konohamaru didn't know much about it, but at least he knew _something_ , since he saw his uncle Asuma train in Sarutobi training grounds, and could describe the techniques pretty accurately.

Naruto listened to the explanation, but couldn't really use much of it for his own purposes. He wanted to fly! In all pictures depicting kitsune, flying foxes had little balls of wind under or close to each leg. So, first order of business, balls of wind chakra.

It was hard. Naruto managed to make a rough ball of chakra floating above his hand, but it was faint and without definition. It looked more like floating lights in swamps, known to be caused by some other spirits, not so much kitsune. They often led people to abandon the road and get lost.

Maybe he could do that to?

He tried to move the ball, made it hover away from his body, but that was even harder. In the end, he managed to make it float on the outer side of his wrist, like in the pictures.

"How are you _doing_ that?" asked Konohamaru in wonder. He had been copying everything Naruto did, without much success. Apparently making chakra visible was very difficult for him. Being human and all.

"'Cause I'm awesome, duh," bragged Naruto.

"Now, how do I make it windy? Did your uncle say something about that?" he asked.

"Dunno… he has this jutsu, like a twister." Konohamaru mimed a twisting movement with his finger. "It takes all the fallen leaves from the ground and makes them float. Uncle Asuma said it could do the same with people, just pick them up and toss them around." He sounded excited when he said that.

"Wow. Sounds like what I need," grinned Naruto.

He stared intently at the ball of chakra hovering by his wrist, willing it to _twist_. When after a few minutes still nothing happened, Konohamaru huffed and let himself fell backwards on the grass. Naruto wasn't giving up so easily. After another few minutes he managed to slowly rotate the whole ball, but it wasn't even noticeable, the orb being the same on all sides, gently glowing blue/white.

"Boring!" whined the kid, now lying on his front and absently twisting a handful of grass stalks.

Oh!

Naruto turned so both his hands were in front of him, then with a finger of his left hand started making twisting motions inside the chakra ball by his right hand. It wasn't long before he got a result. Strands of chakra started rotating like… a twister! It was slow, uneven, and awkward, but it worked!

"Whoa! Boss, you are a genious!" praised Konohamaru, jumping up to have a closer look.

So COOL!

.

After knocking out Konohamaru's perverted sensei with his Harem Jutsu, in a true kitsune style, the two boys made a pact to meet again, and get some real training done. With stars in his eyes, Konohamaru promised to ask Asuma all about wind techniques, before running home.

* * *

It was… different walking through Konoha now. All the glares, all turned backs, all quiet murmurs, they all made sense now. The all _knew_ he was a demon, and they didn't trust him. He will show them! He was a trustworthy demon, the best demon ever!

He was making his way towards the Academy, hopeful about getting a team and finally becoming a ninja.

He walked into the classroom head high and grinning. A few steps in, he noticed Sakura-chan and Ino fighting for a seat near Sasuke. His heart twinged a little, because he _liked_ Sakura-chan, but she for some reason liked Sasuke more.

And then stopped short.

He had read so much about fox wives and kitsune seducing men, and it confused him. He knew boy-foxes change into women, too, but does this mean he should like boys? Could he even date Sakura-chan, being a demon and all? Before the sealing, he was bazillion meters tall. And… and at least 900 years old. Would it be weird if he dated a human girl?

"Gah! So weird!" he yelped, scratching his head. His life was so baffling!

"What's with you, Naruto?" yawned Shikamaru, slouching in his seat just a step away.

"Ehehe…" Naruto quickly sat beside him and was saved from explaining by Iruka-sensei, who just came through the door.

He wondered about his future teammates. Shikamaru would be okay, but Kiba was rude and always wanted to fight. Sasuke was a bastard and Sakura… weird situation, moving on. Ino was annoying.

"Team Seven is Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke," announced Iruka-sensei.

 _Ugh_.

.

Naruto was slowly wandering towards home, lost in thought. Kakashi-sensei's questions gave him a headache. His likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future? Everything has changed now. He still wanted the same things he did a week ago. But…

He liked ramen.

He hated… mean people. And when there's no ramen.

His hobbies? Learning how to be a good ninja demon? It's not like he could say that.

And his dreams? He'd always wanted to be Hokage so people will notice and acknowledge him. Because no one ever did. But now he knew why. He was the Kyuubi, and people turned away because they feared him or hated him. He killed a lot of people in Konoha, so Naruto understood the hatred, even if he didn't like it. But he wasn't that kind of demon anymore. He forgot all of it, he was almost human now. Did they even know that? Did they think he remembered, that he knew if he killed their… children and husbands and sisters, every time he looked at them?

A chilling thought.

He wanted to yell at them that NO, he dudn't remember! He was a good person now. And the sealed part of him will become a good demon, too, he will make sure of it! Sadly, he couldn't assure them of his good intentions. The law forbid talking about it, Iruka-sensei said so.

 _Sigh_.

 _Can_ he become Hokage as a demon? _Should he?_ Is it _right_?

Naruto felt a squeezing sensation in his heart, and he stopped in the middle of the street to clutch at his chest.

 _He really, really wanted to be Hokage._

Maybe he will be able to. But if not…

If not, he will find another dream, a bigger dream. He will become something even more amazing than Hokage, believe it!


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Naruto woke up and did what he did every morning nowadays. He freshened up, donned something orange, made breakfast, and before eating kneeled in front of his closed Kyuubi shrine. He opened it, lighted the candle and incense, filled the sake cup and put one peach and an opened and steaming cup of instant ramen before it. Then he bowed and clapped twice, sending the gifts to the dark, sealed part of himself, wishing for 'inner peace' and happiness. After a happy pat on his stomach over the seal, he bowed again and stood to have breakfast. In the whole ritual, he completely forgot Kakashi-sensei said they shouldn't eat.

Since he _was_ the Kyuubi, he ate the offering of ramen with clean consciousness, and before leaving, grabbed ge peach to chew on the way.

* * *

"Naruto! You're eating!" Sakura-chan yelled at him as soon as she saw him.

Naruto stopped mid stride, blinking at the half-eaten peach in his hand.

"Eh?"

"Kakashi-sensei told us not to eat. He said we will puke. You will embarrass us on a first day as a team. Ugh!" she lectured.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan. I forgot."

"Idiot! Get rid of it!"

Sasuke just Hn-ed and turned away.

Naruto stared down at his peach. Should he toss it? But this was his spirit offering, he couldn't just get rid of it like common trash. Spirits got angry when their offerings got stolen, and he felt pretty ticked himself. He doubted Kyuubi suffered stealing before he forgot who he was.

He glared at Sakura.

"It's my peach. I can do what I want with it. And I never puked at training before, I'm not going to now," he growled.

He took a defying bite.

The waiting was tense, doubly so since Kakashi-sensei was late, the same as the day before. Even when he finally came, he was kind of annoying, and when he said they had to attack him to get the bells...Well, Naruto was all for it.

"But Naruto ate breakfast!" complained Sakura.

"Oh?"

"I forgot, alright! I didn't eat that much, anyway!" two cups of ramen and a peach was light breakfast, after all.

"Oh well. I guess you don't get lunch either way. Now: Begin!"

Naruto readied himself...

But then both Sakura and Sasuke hid in the surrounding forest. What?

"You are an odd one, aren't you? Don't you know that a good ninja is able to hide without the enemy detecting his movements?" mocked Kakashi-sensei.

"I'm not stupid, you know! Why would I hide if you know I'm here and I'm after you? It makes no sense!" he yelled back.

Then he attacked.

A grab, a spin, and Naruto went flying through the air and into the river. _So fast!_ With a splash he went under, cold water making him even more pissed. He surfaced, glaring at his teacher, who had his nose in a book. Wait a minute… Naruto knew that book. He saw it in a bookshop when he 'researched' for his Oiroke no Jutsu.

Naruto grinned toothily.

A hand sign later, over a dozen mostly naked women lept out of the water, and ran, sashayed and skipped towards Kakashi-sensei. Since Naruto practised in the past days, they weren't all female copies of himself. No, they were women of every kind and preference. (Naruto read in a magazine that different men liked different things on a woman, apparently.) Some were curvy, some lean, some skinny, some fuller, hair and eye colour ranging from red to blue. They were all covered by smoke, bikini, or miniskirts, since Naruto still wasn't too sure on the goings on _down there._

Looking proudly from the riverbank, Naruto saw his jutsu work like a charm. They giggled, and moaned, and ruffled Sensei's hair. One even pressed a kiss on his cheek. When Kakashi-sensei thought to fight back, his hands unwantedly made contact with naked skin, prompting the girls to giggle and squeal, making everything even more mortifying. It all lasted less than a minute, before one of the girls untangled herself from the pile and jogged back towards him with a bell in her hand.

"Here, boss," she chirped happily. "I guess we passed?"

Naruto cackled.

In a puff, he dismissed the clones, leaving behind only a vaguely disturbed and flushed teacher.

"Do I pass, Sensei?" called out Naruto, lightly jogging up to him.

"Naruto! How could you do that! That's, that's… ugh!" Sakura popped up out of the bushes, red with anger, shaking and clenching her fists as if wanting to punch him. Sasuke was nowhere to be seen.

"That's not how this was supposed to work, Naruto," lamented Kakashi-sensei, looking down at the book still clutched in his hand and wincing. With a shigh he put it away. He wasn't really in the mood to read erotica right that moment.

"Well, I guess you passed," he nodded at the bell Naruto was still holding up. "But I still have one bell. Let's see which one of them will be your teammate, hm? You can go and sit on a stump there, but you aren't allowed to help them in any way."

Naruto grinned, happy, and ran to sit on a wooden stump in the middle of the clearing.

Kakashi-sensei turned back towards the forest and Sasuke and Sakura hidden there. Sakura, seeing that, quickly disappeared again.

In her stead, Sasuke came leaping into the clearing, his hands flying through the hand seals. Ending in tiger seal, he put two fingers in front of his mouth, and exhaled. Out came a red hot ball of flames and struck Kakashi-sensei head on. When the last flames disappeared Naruto saw a smoking log where his teacher should be. The jounin appeared a step behind Sasuke, who turned just in time to block and engage the jounin in taijutsu. Naruto watched in interest as Sasuke was quickly beaten and went flying into a tree. He caught himself in the last moment and changed the uncontrolled flight so he landed feet first on the tree trunk.

 _That was fire jutsu!_ Naruto closed his eyes tight and tried to memorise the sequence of hand seals, to try and replicate the jutsu later. _Lucky!_

"Ninjutsu, very good. It is one of the main ninja skills. How about you, Sakura, how is your taijutsu? Your hiding ability isn't something to brag about." He looked right to the spot Sakura appeared out of, when she screamed at him for using Harem no jutsu.

The girl stepped out of hiding, shaking but determined. The kunai she tossed went right towards kakashi-sensei, but Naruto winced when it was easily evaded. Sakura had nice, clean katas, but wasn't really good at sparring. Before he could think twice about it, Naruto was sprinting and intercepting a kick ment for her dominant arm.

"Idiot! You already have a bell, stop butting in!" she screamed. He was distracted and not prepared for the next kick, which caught her in the stomach and made her crumble to the ground. Naruto blinked. It couldn't be that strong a kick if she wasn't even moved from her place.

"I told you not to interfere," said Sensei sternly.

"I won't allow you to hurt Sakura! Go beat up Sasuke instead!" argued Naruto, stepping before her fallen form.

"Oh? Disobeying orders, again? That deserves a punishment," sing-songed Kakashi-sensei.

Three hand seals later, Naruto saw the man's visible eye turn black. Then he _moved_! A backhand threw Naruto to the side, and he looked up just in time to see kakashi's face change into Mizuki's. In the next moment, a kunai imbedded into sakura's shoulder, which started gushing blood.

"What?" gasped Naruto.

"You play by my rules now," sneered Mizuki.

Naruto stumbled back.

Another ball of fire went over his head towards their _teacher? Mizuki?_ , but this time it was batted aside like an annoying fly. Mizuki reached behind his back and unclasped one of his big shuriken.

"What is it, Naruto? You would save Sakura, but not Sasuke? Very well. Then he _dies_!" laughed Mizuki, bringing the shuriken down and cleaved the Uchiha from shoulder to hip.

" _NO~_!" screamed Naruto, and half way through the scream turned into a ROAR, shaking the air and making Mizuki take a startled jump back.

Something shattered, like broken glass before his eyes. When he could see again, Mizuki was nowhere in sight. Instead there was Kakashi, crouched in a defense position.

"Naruto! Naruto, it's all alright! It was genjutsu. I cast genjutsu on you. None of it was real. Your teammates are alright," kept saying Kakashi, hands in the air. "Calm down."

Naruto jumped to his feet, wildly searching the clearing for a threat. All he saw was Sakura, trembling on the ground, and Sasuke, standing frozen and wide eyed.

"But Mizuki! He killed… he killed injured Sakura, and Sasuke! Sasuke was dead! Where is he?!" yelled Naruto, panicky.

"It was just genjutsu. As soon as I hit you with it, you sat on the ground, only your eyes working. You saw me standing over Sakura, but I didn't do anything to her, and then Sasuke attacked, but I just pushed him away. Mizuki is not here, he's in prison. Everyone is safe," explained Kakashi.

"O..oh." stammered Naruto.

Genjutsu. _Illusion._ Everything seemed so real! It felt like reality. He shuddered. So that's genjutsu?

Somewhere behind him, a timer rang.

"Ah, well, it seems the time is up," eye-smiled Kakashi. His tone of voice was at ease, but his stance was guarded, as if he was expecting something dangerous.

He knew Naruto was a demon! Of course he knew. Now that Naruto behaved like a demon during the fight, Kakashi (-sensei?) was wary of him. At least it didn't look like he would _do_ anything about it, he was just ignoring it. It was odd, but then people always ignored him rather than hurt him. Naruto relaxed slightly, making Kakashi relax in turn.

"Well, Naruto. You have one bell, and I have another. Since you didn't stay out of the fight like I told you to, you get to choose which one of your prospective teammates you'll help. Sakura, or Sasuke?" challenged Kakashi.

Naruto didn't like him. First he was late, then he was annoying, he even wanted to send one of them back in the academy. Just now, he killed his teammates, even if it was just an illusion.

"If not all of us make genin, I don't want you as our teacher anyway! Either we all pass, or we'll find another jounin sensei!" he challenged.

"Oh? So that's how it is?" he asked dangerously. "And you two? Do you agree with him? Willing to risk all you you going to the academy?"

Sakura, who until then looked absolutely miserable, perked up and glared at Kakashi. Sasuke was still slightly folded into himself, eyes shadowed, but he was fingering a kunai his pouch.

"You… you showed Naruto a genjutsu, where you killed us?" he asked quietly, but dangerously. "You let him watch us die?"

"It wasn't real, Sasuke," waved Kakashi the whole thing off.

Sasuke convulsed.

"We will be genin, or none of us will," he bit out.

"Hmmm… Then my decision is: you PASS!" Kakashi smiled again.

"HUH?" yelped Naruto and Sakura.

"Remember, your teammates are the most important, even more than your personal objective. Konoha stands on teamwork, that's what makes it the most powerful of ninja villages. Ninja who don't complete their mission are thrash, but ninja who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

He let the words hang in the air, like waiting for something. To Naruto, the whole thing sounded forced and wrong.

"Well, you are all genin now. Meet me tomorrow, we will take the first mission as ninja of Konoha."

Then he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

"This guy!" yelled Naruto.

"Did he… did he really make you think he killed us?" asked Sakura tentatively.

"Yeah. There was blood everywhere," shuddered Naruto.

"I know we're genin now, but I don't think I want to have a sensei like that," she admitted.

"Hn," agreed Sasuke, "And for all his talk at the end about teammates sticking together, he sure doesn't care much about us. Always late, letting us starve, pitting us against each other. No one should watch his friends or family die, and to show you that in a genjutsu, Naruto…"

"Well, it wasn't really him that killed you…" admitted Naruto, then at their confused looks recounted what happened with Mizuki and how he graduated. He left out classified information, like that it was the Scroll of Seals he stole, and the whole Kyuubi thing.

They still looked horrified.

"Mizuki-sensei was a traitor?" gasped Sakura, "And Kakashi-sensei still made the genjutsu seem like he wanted to kill you, again, after he killed both of us? That's insane!"

"I don't trust him, even if he made us genin at the because he made us genin. It stinks of manipulation," growled Sasuke.

"Yeah. Can we get another teacher, do you think?" asked Sakura hopefully.

"Hm. We'll see."

"Do you guys want ramen? I'm still hungry, and those bentos look suspicious." Naruto really hoped for some ramen, he needed some comfort food.

"Yeah, let's go."

* * *

 **This was hard to write, since I really didn't want to rewrite the whole canon script. And it's my first time writing a fight scene.**

 **I think and hope my Kakashi is canon. I mean, he caught Sakura in a genjutsu, and when she passed out from fright he just shrugged. So he has no problems being descripting in showing fellow ninja injured comrades.**

 **Also, this time the victim, Naruto, tells out loud what happened under the genjutsu, and Sasuke takes the reminder of what his brother did to him as well as is to be expected.**

 **Poor Kakashi made enemies in his own team. But then, even in canon, I don't think he shows he is part of the team until the wave mission, and even then it comes and goes…**

 **And about the roar… even if Kakashi got scared for a moment that kyuubi broke loose, after comforting Naruto (somewhat), he never confronted him about it. In the wave mission, the whole thing got really serious, with red chakra and all, but the first one to really have a half arsed talk about the kyuubi with him was Jiraiya in the Chuunin exams.**

 **What do you guys think?**


	4. Chapter 4

Being on a team was more interesting than being in the Academy, even if it was boring. Naruto hoped they would get awesome training or special missions, but none of that happened. Kakashi-sensei continued being late, D-ranks were annoying, and even Sasuke and Sakura didn't really talk to him much.

Naruto approached Sasuke one day after they completed the mission of painting fences, asking him about fire jutsu and genjutsu. The bastard clammed up, however, and started brooding extra hard. That made Sakura mad at him again, so now neither of them talked to him.

 _Why was everything so complicated?!_

Naruto even went to find Konohamaru, hoping to get some tips from his uncle, but the man was sadly away on a mission, and Naruto would have to wait a whole week.

So, it was time for some alone training.

Naruto locked his apartment, meaning to go to his clearing to get some Fire jutsu training. Walking through the residential areas, he came upon a large heap of stuff at the corner near the dumpsters.

"Well, I hope someone takes all this away to the dump site. They can't just leave it in the middle of the road! I understand cleaning house of old trash, but they should have considered the neighbours!" an old lady complained, gossiping to someone over the fence of her yard.

Naruto would have ignored it all, if he didn't happen to notice a little stone shrine. He read about stone shrines, usually found in woods and alongside roads, but he never saw one. Konoha didn't seem to be big on shrines and spirits. Checking if someone was looking his way, he covertly tiptoed to the shrine, borrowed some old, dusty drapes from the pile, bundled the shrine up, and hightailed it outta there.

In his clearing, he first dunked the small shrine into the pond, removing the dust and cobwebs. Then he took a good look at it. It had three walls with little windows, a low pedestal, a sloped roof similar to those older fancy houses, and a hook extending from one corner of the roof. Squinting, Naruto figured it might be for a lantern. Now, what to do with it? He already had a Kyuubi shrine, and while another one dedicated to himself would be awesome, especially such a pretty stone one, he figured it wouldn't be the best idea. First, it was far away from his home, and second, anyone could stumble upon it and see that he worshiped the demon fox. Which would be bad.

But, what if he made a shrine for _other spirits_? He read a bit about them in the Youkai book, and according to it, one could build a shrine and had a spirit make a home in it. And Naruto… he really, really didn't want to be the only spirit in Konoha. All his life, he was lonely and alone, and after learning he was Kyuubi no Kitsune, he was more alone than ever. As far as he knew, he was the only non-human in the whole village. If he could build a shrine and have a spirit live there, maybe he could have someone to talk to. Maybe even a _friend_.

 _Al~right!_ Project 'make a nice home for a nice spirit' was a go!

* * *

It took two hours to make the shrine nice and homey, with food in it and a lantern hanging from its roof. He found the perfect place for it under the tree growing over the pond, away from the place he used for training. Naruto stepped back, watching it in satisfaction. Now all it needed was a fire to lit the lantern…

Blast! Naruto scowled. He had nothing to light the fire with. Or did he…

Naruto took a few jumps back until he was standing on the rock over the pond, and went slowly through the hand seals for Sasuke's fire jutsu. It took a few tries until he was confident he had it right, then poured his chakra into it, inhaling. He exhaled through the ring of his fingers, not really having any idea why they should be there.

It _burned_!

It was as if a full bucket of boiling ramen was poured down his throat. Naruto wavered, losing his balance and falling into the pond. Water entered his scorched mouth, a cold a balm to sooth it even if it wanted to drown him. He climbed back onto the bank, coughing. Nothing had ever hurt that bad before, no sparing, not even his fight with Mizuki. He must have done something wrong.

Right, maybe he really needed to ask Sasuke-teme again.

But he really wanted to light the lantern! Hm.

Maybe a spirit light? He could make a ball of chakra, but could only make it hover a few inches above his hand. How to make it stay in the lantern? Determined to make _something_ work that day, he decided to try. He made a spirit light on his palm, then tipped it over and into the lantern. When he moved his hand away, however, it either followed it, or winked out. Naruto scowled. He is _not_ giving up!

He tried forcing the ball of chakra to stay where it is, then tried making it impossible for it to go through objects, so it had to stay in the lantern. That didn't work out. He scratched his head. How to make chakra do things. Well, hand signs were like that, and seals too, if one of those is keeping him imprisoned. Naruto didn't know any seals, and only saw a few _ofuda_ , which were too complicated for him to recreate. But there was one seal he _always_ had at hand. He lifted up his shirt, and with a thought brought up his seal. It had a _spiral in it_.

Naruto squinted. Picking up by then quite worn lantern, he pulled out a kunai, and with it inscribed a spiral on the wood inside where the fire should be. Sticking out a finger, he traced the spiral with chakra, deep enough to burn the wood slightly. Then he made a spirit light on top of it. Carefully he removed his hand.

 _YES_! Naruto did a little dance when the ball stayed right where he wanted it, wobbling above the seal.

Sadly the light didn't last more than a few minutes before it paled and winked out. But Naruto felt pleased with himself anyway. Right before he went home that night, he lit it one last time. The gentle light could be seen all the way to the edge of the clearing, before it was hidden by trees.

* * *

They had another mission, this one on the Nara grounds. Apparently Nara had deer, those huge, creepily staring animals with huge antlers. And they wanted Team Seven to feed them huge amounts of hay. To the animals that looked like they would rather eat genin for breakfast. Clan ninja were insane!

So there was a lot of running, lots of hay in places it really shouldn't be, and lots of sneezing all around. Sakura looked miserable, Sasuke looked annoyed, and Sensei was seen playing shogi with some old Nara guy. Naruto knew it was shogi because Shikamaru only ever got excited when talking about it. Well, when Naruto said excited…

So it was Naruto who was sent running to the most remote corners of the compound, delivering armfuls of prickly hay to the grass eating beasts. On one of the runs he almost tripped over an old lady sitting on the ground.

"Shit! Oi, Lady, watch it!" he yelped. He got only a glare in return. He should have known, these were Nara. Of course they would be laying on the ground in the middle of the woods.

"Oi, boy, give me some of that hay," demanded the old woman. Well, demanded was pushing it- she was jawning over the words.

"Nuh-uh. I have to deliver it to the feeding… thing. You can't have it."

He got a deadpanned stare in return.

"I'm Nara Shaka, boy. One of the elders of the Nara clan. I can demand you give me my own hay."

"Ehehe…" winced Naruto, opening his arms and letting hay fall all over the floor in front of her.

"What do you need it?" he couldn't help but ask. Was she gonna eat it, or something?

The old woman just lifted her hand and pointed. Before her was an old tree stump, and even cut off it was bigger than him. It was still alive, too, small branches growing out of it.

"What is it?" But he could already see. It wasn't just a tree, there was a wooden shrine inside it. It looked like the tree grew over and around the shrine, almost completely covering it.

"I will use hay to make good luck charms. That is a shrine of the Forest spirit. These were Nara lands long before Konoha was founded, and the Forest spirit was one of the reasons why the Shodaime could have made such lush forests and magnificent trees. Younger people prefer to forget they aren't all powerful, that not all it up to them," she glared at him when saying that, and Naruto stuck a tongue out to her, offended. He was a spirit too, and an even better one than this Forest spirit. Making trees, really. Trees made themselves, anyway, so this Forest guy had to be a weakling.

"Well, boy? Are you going to pay your respects to the Forest spirit? Do you even know how, or has the younger generation already forgotten?" the old lady snarked.

Naruto puffed up.

"I can, too! But I won't. I'm a more kick ass spirit than some tree grower! I even have nine tails! What does this guy have, huh?" And then he paled a little, because this was the first time he spoke of his origins out loud.

The woman stared at him, looking dumbfounded. The silence stretched long enough for Naruto to get twitchy.

"What!?" he yelled.

"Ah. I would ask, but I am forbidden to talk about it. S-class secrets are forbidden to be talked about under pain of death," she explained gravely. "And I might be old, but I have no wish to die."

"Oh," breathed Naruto.

"But I believe _you_ may talk as much as you wish. You _are_ the secret, after all." She looked at him meaningfully.

Naruto felt frightened, dread twisting in his belly. His fingers clutched the fabric of his shirt over the seal, and he swallowed.

"You don't have to, of course. There is no one that can force you. But it might ease the burden on your shoulders." She quirked at him a wrinkled smile.

After squinting at her to determine her sincerity, he plonked himself down on the grass a few feet away from her.

"I don't remember," he confided in her. "I don't remember anything of my time as Kyuubi. I don't remember where I came from, how old I am. Did I have friends? What… what about family? I always knew I was an orphan. But when I asked Old Man Hokage, he never told me who my parents were. And now I figured, he couldn't, because he doesn't know. Or maybe… maybe Kyuubi didn't have parents." His fists turned white resting on his thighs, shaking slightly.

"I'm sorry!" he blurred. "I'm sorry for killing all those ninja. I didn't mean too! I didn't want to! Well, I don't know about before, because the Fourth took my memories, but. _I don't want to be evil_!"

The woman looked at him evenly, her eyes sharp and searching. He took a deep breath.

"I want to be Hokage. To have people notice me, to be known as someone great. But they hate me, don't they? Can they forgive me, for being Kyuubi? Can…" he gasped wetly, "can _you_ forgive me for being Kyuubi?"

He didn't know where the tears came from, because he hadn't cried for a very long time. But, everything was too much, all of a sudden. The burden was too much!

Startling, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw sympathetic eyes peering at him.

"I forgive you. You regret it, and I forgive you. But remember, boy. I will never forget. My son died that day. Every time I visit his grave, I will remember the malice in the air, the killing intent so strong it brought me to my knees."

Naruto's eyes were wide as he stared at her. Her son!

"No one knows what really happened that night. No one knows why the Kyuubi attacked, what made him so angry. And no one knows what Namikaze Minato did, when he defeated it. Only he knew, and he is dead. I don't know what you are, but with people, our actions shape a person. The actions prove someone trustworthy, and worthy of forgiveness. You have a chance at another life. Make this one better." She squeezed his shoulder one last time, then withdrew.

A stray sun ray fell over her face, and Naruto never saw something so beautiful. Never felt so grateful.

"Thanks, Old Lady," he choked out.

"It's Nara-san to you, boy!" she scolded.

"Sorry, Nara Obaa-san." He grinned at her, wide and happy.

She rolled her eyes.

"Now go on, boy! Be useful, and finish the mission. Shoo!"

Naruto jumped to his feet, and with a cheerful wave ran back to his team.

"Naruto! You are late! You better not be turning to Kakashi-sensei!" demanded Sakura when he stumbled out of the forest near the main Nara house. They were all waiting for him, looking annoyed and in Sensei's case, bored.

"Mission complete. Let's go, Team," Kakashi-sensei beckoned them with his finger, then turned to walk away, nose in his book.

Naruto skipped after him, feeling all was right with the world.

* * *

 **Before anyone asks, no, the old woman didn't know Naruto was the Kyuubi. She thought he was a Jinchuuriki. But if Naruto said he was the Kyuubi who lost his memories, then it must be true. The boy obviously didn't lie, she can spot a lie. And she doesn't know much about seals, especially high level ones the Fourth Hokage used. So anything is possible in her eyes.**

 **QUESTION!**

 **Which youkai do you want to make a home in Naruto's stone shrine?**


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto was walking home from one of the boring missions that now took most of his time, when he heard Konohamaru calling after him.

"Hey, boss! Boss, wait!" he jogged up to Naruto, breathing hard. "I just got Uncle Asuma to agree for a training session. He was busy until now, he's got a genin team. Come on!"

Naruto grinned and sprinted after him.

Sarutobi compound was huge and looked kinda old-fashioned. There were even those mini trees growing in tiny pots that old people were obsessed with. But the training ground was big and open, and a bearded man was already waiting there for them. Quite a change from Kakashi-sensei, who was always at least three hours late.

"Hm, you must be Uzumaki Naruto," remarked Asuma.

"Yeah Uncle! Like I said! He wanted to learn wind chakra, and I told him you are the best wind user in Konoha!" said Konohamaru excitedly, jumping in place.

"Hmm. What are you working on? Some specific jutsu?" he asked Naruto.

Naruto puffed up proudly.

"Yeah, watch this!"

He made a ball of chakra first by the right wrist, then the left one. Then, using his finger, made a little twister in each one. With deep concentration, he kept the twisting balls in place and waved his hands up and down. The air around him bent and twisted, creating currents out of nowhere.

"This is as far as I came. I need to make them on each of my legs next, and then I want to try flying!"

Looking up, he saw Asuma wearing a dumbfounded expression.

"That is...a lot of chakra," Asuma choked out.

"Yeah, a bit," shrugged Naruto. "So, can you teach me to fly?"

Slowly, the man nodded.

.

The next three hours they spent figuring out how to make Naruto fly. He learned more about wind chakra than he thought might be possible. There were jutsus that looked like twisters, or short bursts of wind to keep enemies and weapons away. You could shape the wind to cut, or channel it into a weapon to give it a deadly edge. Who would have thought air was so dangerous? Some, Asuma said, could even make a sound barrier, since sound needed air to travel, and they could cut that air off.

But flying was more tricky. It would have to be controlled and continuous. Which, the man explained, would take a huge amount of chakra, something not many ninja had. Naruto wasn't worried about that, but Konohamaru kinda wilted. He didn't have much chakra, being small and human. But he insisted on training alongside Naruto, and his persistence was admirable.

Asuma managed to show how to improve the twisting of chakra in the balls, making it take in more air. Then he made him create twisters at the bottom of his feet, just simple ones that gave extra power to his jumps, and soon Naruto was propelling himself through the air, then desperately trying to keep himself from falling back to the ground. His jumps were getting more and more efficient and controlled, and he could twist in the air just using the spinning balls of chakra on his hands. When he managed to change the trajectory of his fall for the first time, they all cheered. It was the coolest thing ever!

In celebration, they all got a home cooked meal made by Konohamaru's mother. It was almost as good as Teuchi's ramen!

* * *

It was somewhere around the third week as genin that he noticed the food started to go missing from his little stone shrine. He didn't bring it every day, of course, being busy doing missions and training. But noodles and vegetables started disappearing overnight, with fruits remaining untouched.

Naruto, determined to find out who ate his offerings, even made a camp further between the trees, and set to watch the shrine the whole night. When he was woken the next morning to birds singing and realising he'd fallen asleep during the watch, he cursed and raced to the shrine. The food was missing again!

He came to the meeting of Team Seven with clothes all wrinkled and leaves in his hair. His whole team gave him strange looks, but didn't ask any questions. Naruto vowed to find the thief who stole his offerings.

When they passed the Nara grounds on their way back to the mission office, Naruto remembered that the old Nara Lady had a shrine. Maybe she knew who usually stole food offerings? As soon as Kakashi-sensei gave them leave, he raced to the Nara forest, and right to the shrine. He was seen by a Nara guard on the edge or their property, but Naruto just showed the snoozing man a peace sign and was waved past. The Lady was luckily right there, sitting on a blanket and doing something with thread and needles. It must be an old women thing.

"Oi, Nara-san!" he yelled.

"Naruto-san, what brings you here?" she asked.

"I have a shrine like this one," he pointed at the tree stump, "and I bring offerings to hopefully invite a spirit to be my friend, but someone eats them during the night. What's up with that?"

Old Lady blinked at him, then lazily put away her things and turned towards him.

"Well," she mussed, "It might be the forest animals, but if you are lucky, it's a spirit. Anything that prevented animals to steal your offerings might impact spirits too."

"It might be a spirit? Really?" Naruto was excited. This was so great!

"The spirit will show itself to you when it trusts you not to harm it. Just be patient."

She peered at him.

"What did you do differently to get a spirit to visit you, boy?"

Naruto squirmed.

"Well, dunno… it might be because I'm a spirit too?" He hoped so.

"You did nothing different with the shrine itself? This shrine," she pointed to the old tree stump, "was here for centuries. We have records of a Forest spirit appearing to the Nara clansmen up until fifty years ago. Then he vanished. I saw him only once, in the distance. He was magnificent!" Nara-san closed her eyes, looking like she was remembering eating the best bowl of ramen.

"If there is anything you can do to bring the Forest spirit back to us, we would be grateful," she said, looking at him.

Naruto plopped himself down on the blanket beside her.

"Well, I have a spirit light, you don't? It might be that?" he mussed.

"Show me?" asked the old woman.

Naruto looked the shrine over, but it had no lantern. It was mostly wooden, even more now that the tree grew all around it. Interwoven hay hung from the roof in shape of good-luck charms. In small saucers there was a bunch of sugar cubes, an apple, grains, and a gently smoking incense. Under the incense, Naruto saw a metal plate, probably to prevent fires caused by the burning. He lifted the saucer and took the metal to look at it closer.

"Can I do something with this? Do you have something sharp?" he asked the Nara.

He was offered a needle, which was big and looked very sturdy. Naruto squinted at her suspiciously. Was this a needle or a weapon?

Shrugging, he inscribed the same spiral as he did into his lantern. Tracing the finger over it to burn it with his chakra, he then reinforced it. A thought created a spirit light on the tip of his finger and he poked the spiral to transfer it and make it hover over the plate.

"Tadaa!" he showed it to the woman.

"A spirit light?" she hushed. "You can make them, and they function like spirit lights, instead of just like chakra balls?"

Naruto just grinned at her, and pushed the plate into her hands.

"How long does it last?" she asked, holding it carefully.

"Depends, but a few hours at least. I can charge it again, if I catch it before it winks out."

Nara-san gently put it inside the shrine. There was something gentle and wistful about her face that made Naruto want to make her happy. He looked at the light, then at the forest around them, which was already getting darker. Lifting his hand, he made another light, making it hover over his shoulder. The woman's face looked years younger when she looked at the now spirit light, so Naruto took her needle and went about inscribing the spiral seal in every stone and rock he saw. In short order, there were twelve additional spirit lights happily glowing in the clearing. It did look kinda magical, Naruto thought in wonder.

It was already night when they made way to the compound, illuminating the path with three lights Naruto made on his body. At the front door, Nara-san turned to him and gently touched his whiskered cheek.

"Thank you," she said softly, before disappearing inside the compound.

Naruto went home with a skip to his step.

* * *

Kakashi-sensei was late. Again. Naruto was fuming, Sasuke was glowering, and Sakura was cracking his knuckles.

"Waaah!" yelled Naruto into the quiet. "I want another sensei! Even Asuma-sensei taught me more, and he only taught me once!"

"Asuma-sensei? Isn't he Ino's sensei?" wondered Sakura.

"Dunno, haven't asked. He has a genin team, I think. He trained me 'cause I know his nephew."

"Can we get another sensei?" asked Sasuke, suddenly intent and paying attention to the conversation.

Sakura hummed. "I think so? But it's a long process, with evaluations and paperwork. It's mostly to prevent abuse to subordinates."

"This _is_ abuse," growled Sasuke. "Don't you remember our test the first day? He said he was testing our teamwork, but he was picking on us and prevented our cooperation from the very beginning! We deserve something better."

"We could go to Hokage-jiji. Just ask him directly," offered Naruto.

"We can't just go to the Hokage, Naruto. There's no way he would meet with us, he has more important things to do," argued Sakura.

"Pfft! I meet with him all the time. Let's go!"

Naruto turned and left, his teammates trailing behind him.

.

Getting to the Hokage wasn't hard, Naruto just had to wave to the right people in the tower and they were unsheared inside the office.

"Hello, Naruto, Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan. What brings you here?" asked the old man.

"We want a new sensei! Kakashi-sensei is always late and doesn't train us. How can I become Hokage if he doesn't even teach me any jutsu?" demanded Naruto.

"I can't just give you a new sensei on a complaint like that, Naruto. I'm sure your sensei is just keeping the pace of your training to what he thinks is best for you," Jiji laughed.

"But!" yelped Naruto.

"Hokage-sama, if I may," interupted Sasuke, "Kakashi said he failed multiple teams before us, told us not to eat breakfast, then showed up hours late and told us only two may pass. When Naruto got the bell, he forbid him from helping us. When Naruto helped Sakura against his orders, Kakashi subjected him to a genjutsu where he changed into Mizuki, who I heard is a traitor to Konoha, and used him to kill both me and Sakura. When we complained about his methods, he dismissed all of it as just an illusion and bothered just enough to explain to Naruto it wasn't real. When we said he should either pass us or we will find another sensei, he made us genin. Then he had a nerve to say teamwork it the most important aspect of the village and then left." Sasuke was shaking lightly by the end of it.

"Yeah," nodded Sakura, "And he was late every day since! He just lets us wait for him, then we take missions, then he has us spar some. He taught us some tactics to use during the capture of cat Tora, but other than that, I didn't improve since the Academy."

Hokage's face darkened and he motioned towards the door, where the secretary was waiting.

"Bring me the file on Hatake Kakashi and all his past failed teams. Go!" the secretary hurried away.

Jiji turned to them and sighed.

"Sasuke-kun, did Kakashi train you in the use of your sharingan?" he asked.

Sasuke stiffened. "No. I have not managed to awaken my sharingan as of yet," he ground out.

Hokage nodded grimly.

"Hatake Kakashi was assigned to your team for many reasons. He is one of our best jounin, a former ANBU. After his retirement from ANBU we made the fact publicly known, to further our reputation. He is the only loyal ninja of Konoha with a sharingan eye, so he was perfect to train the last Uchiha. The use of his eye was authorised by the village.

"Additionally, he is well versed in various forms of combat and is a genius, immersed in the various factions and leadership of the village. Sakura, as a smart and versatile kunoichi, you would just need to find your own style, and Kakashi could have been a tremendous help there. There are many professions inside the village that could make use of your sharp mind.

"And Naruto, Kakashi mastered around one thousand jutsu. With your chakra reserves he could teach you some of the more chakra intensive and make you a front assault ninja.

"All together, you would be a strong and visible defense of the village, with an Uchiha, a civilian kunoichi, and a powerhouse. Together with the ties to me through Naruto and Kakashi, you would be a pride of Konoha. Additionally, Sasuke-kun could enter ANBU if he showed the utmost loyalty to the village and Hokage as is required, and Sakura-chan could be in any division that required high memorisation and high visibility to entice potential clients with her approachability."

Hokage ended the lecture, nodding to himself.

Naruto stared. Sasuke and Sakura stared. They could _be_ all that? Amazing!

The secretary came back, carrying papers to the Hokage's desk and consulting with the man in hushed tones. Next to him his teammates started smiling.

"This is great, isn't it?" whispered Naruto.

Sakura squeaked a "Yes!" and Sasuke smirked and nodded to him. Naruto never felt so connected to his team before!

Hokage-jiji cleared his throat.

"Looks like your complaint has merit. I will look into it personally. In the meantime, you will join a chuunin patrol that brings provisions to other patrols stationed across the Land of Fire. Since the mission is happening away from the village, it will be a C-rank, but you will be more like pack mules than anything, since your rank isn't high enough. Follow orders, learn and observe, because you will be evaluated on your performance."

Sasuke caught a scroll thrown their way.

"The group leaves in an hour. Pack and get ready, the mission will last ten days. Dismissed!"

They tripped all over themselves hurrying out, grinning.

* * *

 **First, thank you all for recommendations on various spirits. I already picked one for the shrine, and have plans for others. If you at any point think of an interesting spirit, let me know!**

 **Second, the balls of chakra aren't Rasengan, since their function is very different. Asuma doesn't know Rasengan anyway.**

 **And lastly, they finally call Kakashi on his dismissive attitude. In canon, ninja forces are shown kinda narrow at the beginning, and the genin don't really interact with the chuunin or jounin of Konoha. Here, they will. And I have Plans!**


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto has never packed and gotten ready as fast as this. As soon as they got the orders from the Hokage, the whole team split and sprinted home, eager to undertake a C-rank mission. Naruto threw together all that he thought he might need on a ten day trip, then quickly tidied the apartment and checked the shrine for any perishable food. That done, he locked the front door, and made his way to the meeting site.

He and Sasuke arrived almost at the same time and approached the Northern gates, where a group of chuunin were chatting with the gate guards.

"Hi! Uzumaki Naruto reporting on a C-rank mission!" yelled Naruto, grinning widely. He was almost hopping in place with excitement.

"You brats Team Seven? Where is your third teammate?" demanded a gruff chuunin, an Inuzuka judging by the looks and the big hound sitting by his side.

"Here! I'm here," called out Sakura, stopping when reaching the group and then folding over, panting for breath.

The ninja wasted no time introducing himself.

"I'm Inuzuka Nikukyuu, team leader. Inuzuka Hana is our med-nin and Akimichi Hiru is in charge of the food." He turned to the two chuunin. "And these are our three helpers from Team Seven, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura."

They exchanged nods, and Naruto was made a little unsure by the professional conduct.

"Right. Our task is stopping by every Territory and Border post in the Northern sector and bring supplies to the patrols stationed there. We will carry food, medicine and a limited amount of weapons. Since not all food and medicine can be stored safely in storage scrolls, we have them in crates, which you will have to carry in pairs."

Nikukyuu motioned to the three big crates, each secured with ropes, and those ropes forming two big handles.

"Well, go on, one chuunin and one genin per crate. The content of the crates aren't exactly delicate, but still, be careful not to damage anything."

Naruto's team hurried, each grabbing a handle of one of the boxes. Looking at it better, Naruto noticed his crate contained medical supplies, according to the tiny text written on the corner of the crate. Inuzuka Hana grabbed the handle on the other side.

"You were Kiba's partner in mischief, weren't you? I'm Hana, Kiba's older sister. I liked the paint pranks, but didn't really appreciate the one with eggs. My sensitive nose suffered terribly for a week afterwards," she smiled, her fangs showing.

"Ehehe, hi?" Naruto scratched the back of his head, feeling somewhere between flattered and embarrassed.

At Hana's feet, three dogs squabbled and nipped at each other, drawing his attention to them.

"These are my nin-dog partners, the Triplets. While they obey me, they are trained to respond favourably and professionally to all Konoha ninja. You can treat them as teammates while on a mission. It usually takes people outside the clan a while to get used to them, but some begin to understand them if they partner with Inuzukas a lot during their career."

Naruto looked down on them, noticing three pairs of eyes staring intently back at him. The nin-dogs approached him and began sniffing at him.

"What are they doing?" They looked a bit like wolf spirits, even if he knew they were just dogs.

"Learning your scent, so they can find you in an emergency. They will do that to all teammates in the group, and remember it for the duration of the mission. Better to be safe than sorry. See, Hou is doing the same," she pointed to the big dog belonging to Nikukyuu.

"Alright, everyone, ready yourselves! We're leaving!" shouted Nikukyuu, raising his hand and gestured forward.

Naruto grabbed the crate and tried matching Hana's pace. They started off slow, getting used to working in pairs, Sasuke with Nikukyuu and Sakura with Hiru. Soon, however, they left the path and continued their way through the forest.

"You genin know the Tree climbing chakra exercise yet?" barked team leader.

 _The what?_

"It's the ability to gather the right amount of chakra to your feet or hands to stick to various surfaces, such as trees. It is invaluable for traveling in the canopies," he explained.

"Ah, no, we don't know that one," said Sakura. Naruto scowled, and he could see Sasuke gritting his teeth. Kakashi-sensei was pissing him off more and more, not teaching them anything.

"We can show you when we make camp for the night, as long as it doesn't tire you out. You still have to be in fighting shape should the worst happen. We _are_ in the middle of a mission, after all," offered Hana.

"Thanks!" Naruto grinned.

* * *

The group stopped and rested sometime in the afternoon, taking time to eat something and gather strength. Naruto didn't find himself overly tired, but Sakura was struggling for breath. She was lucky Hiru was strong and took most of the crate's weight.

Naruto found himself watching the nin-dogs. He didn't know much about them, just that some clans trained and bred animals in a way that made them able to use chakra, and sometimes even talk. Now he wondered if perhaps they were bred with spirits, making the animals more intelligent. He didn't think he could ask, however. Kiba was very tight-lipped about their clan secrets, even when he was loud about everything else.

The nin-dogs noticed his interest and soon Naruto found himself sitting on the ground, a lap full of fluffy paws and and wet noses. He snickered.

Naruto heard a huff and noticed that both Nikukyuu and his nin-dog Hou were looking at them reproachfully.

"Don't worry. The Triplets are just more affectionate towards non-clan ninja, and people in general, than most of our nin-dogs. Some of this is because there are three of them, and they aren't as heavily co-dependant with their human partner. I liked it that way, that's why I picked all three of them. And I work in the animal clinic and in the hospital, so friendly dogs are a must. It's just unusual inside the clan, that's all." She winked at him, and Naruto grinned back. Soon after, he was pushed onto his back by a pile of eager puppies.

.

They continued onward, hoping to reach the first Northern post before nightfall. Apparently they were going a bit slower to accommodate the genin, which made Naruto puff up in offence and try to increase the pace.

"Don't," cautioned Hana. "The pace must not tire anyone out to the point of exhaustion, or the team is vulnerable. It is safer to be slower but consistent, than faster and have a teammate down. Sakura, and to an extent you and Sasuke, don't yet have the stamina for long distance running. You are not used to running, and haven't quite mastered the technique of running long distances while conserving strength. Your inability to augment your body with chakra is also a factor." She must have seen his frustration, since she laughed softly. "We were all exactly where you are now. We were all rookie genin once, there is no fault with that. You will learn, your career has just begun."

* * *

Nin-dogs detected the post first, and after passing a few more trees the humans could see it too. The Territory patrol was already waiting for them, standing before the unassuming wooden house.

"Were they expecting us?" asked Sakura, unsure.

"Yes. The post has a surveillance parameter, they noticed us way before we noticed them. As it should be. One day, it might just save their lives," confirmed Nikukyuu.

They approached the house and stopped a few steps before the Territory patrol team.

"Territory and Border patrol supply team, team leader Inuzuka Nikukyuu. Status?" barked the gruff Inuzuka.

And so it went. The teams exchanged the news, orders and similar technicalities Naruto couldn't really follow. After that, they were ushered inside the house, where the crates were opened and the supplies changed hands. Nikukyuu also received a scroll, which he stashed into his vest. At the genin's questioning looks, he patted the pocket containing it and said simply, "Territory patrol mid-mission report."

That night they slept in the post house, listening to experienced chuunin sharing stories before bed, carefully omitting classified parts while still conveying the humor. Team Seven found themselves giggling at the anecdotes, and even Sasuke unstuck that stick up his behind for the evening.

.

In the morning Nikukyuu woke them up early, and while the patrol was preparing breakfast showed them the Tree Walking technique. All three of them kept trying, while chuunin down below shouted encouragement and tips.

Sakura had some trouble, her legs still shaky from the run the day before, but she managed the technique first. As soon as she did, Hana called her down from the tree, making sure she conserved her strength for the day ahead. Naruto and Sasuke didn't quite manage, but Naruto was happy with his progress anyway.

After each eating their share, the six of them (plus the dogs) were off, running to the next post.

* * *

In the following days, Team Seven learned more than ever before. They mastered Tree Climbing, how to make a fire that didn't produce smoke, how to hide and set traps, how to check if the water is drinkable, and much more. Naruto was thrilled!

Inuzuka Hana seemed to take him under her wing (or was it paw?), instructing him on how to set traps and warning systems. Naruto lit up with pride when she named him an expert in the making, and not one of the chuunin opposed the claim.

 _Was this what it felt like, being accepted?_

Hana also noticed he had good senses, so she soon started teaching him how to use them most effectively. He was to emulate her and the Triplets, sniffing the air and listening to the forest.

Naruto caught the discussion between Sasuke and Nikukyuu one time, happening at a further distance than he could usually detect with such clarity.

"You might not have unlocked the Sharingan yet, Uchiha, but your eyes are still better than most people's. It's the same for Inuzukas; even untrained, we still smell and hear better than most people. I know some exercises you can do, just adapted to sight. You can try this…" What threw Naruto the most was that Sasuke looked eager. He was usually bored or angry, but now he looked almost _happy_!

Sakura, too, was getting happier. She was learning from the Akimichi, and while the guy looked huge and dangerous, he turned out to be a softie. Hiru patiently taught her about herbs and plants, about proper ninja diet according to person's speciality, age, and training regimen. He even showed how a kunoichi as slight as her could beat a huge guy like him, complete with tips and a demonstration of stances and techniques.

.

On day eight, Nikukyuu called them to gather around while they were resting for lunch.

"Now listen up! The next two posts are Border posts, standing on the most risky part of our Northern border. While it is not our job to take care of threats, and are encouraged to avoid fights, ninja life never is so easy and secure. So I want your eyes, ears, and noses poised and checking for any danger. Got it? The same way, I will be double checking the identity of the Border patrol, in case they were overtaken by the enemy. So, no funny business from here on out!"

Grimly, the team nodded.

In minutes, they were off, taking into the trees.

Naruto liked how Nikukyuu ran, less like a ninja and more like the nin-dogs. Ever since he started emulating him, with the help of amused Hana, he got faster, and most importantly, quicker to react mid-run.

They drew near the post three hours later. Before they even saw it, Hou and the Triplets started growling, which made the leader order for a group to stop.

"Blood," hissed Hana, translating for her nin-dogs, "Blood belonging to several different people."

"Hou detects four people, but blood from at least six," confirmed Nikukyuu.

They approached cautiously, evading everything that might give away their presence to the people inside the house.

"Hiru, stay here with the crates. The others, come with me," came the orders.

They ghosted to the house, silent and watchful. When they were close enough, they hid and listened, the dogs' ears pointed and twitching. Naruto concentrated, as Hana showed him, until he could just barely hear the voices inside. One was deep and sounded male, another a bit higher, but scratchy. Maybe belonging to an older woman?

After a few intense minutes, the Inuzukas started relaxing, comforted by whatever their dogs conveyed by twitches and paw gestures. Another minute later, a group of bugs flied over them and landed on one of the big leaves they were hiding behind. Naruto gaped in disbelief when the bugs took the shape of a question mark.

"Clear," nodded Nikukyuu. "At least three Konoha ninja, one of them Aburame."

"Stay alert," cautioned Hana, then motioned to follow.

They were noticed by the people from the house, and the door opened to reveal a woman who was obviously an Aburame, covered from head to toe, goggles over her eyes.

"Identification?" she demanded. She was the one with the scratchy voice, but this close it didn't sound scratchy. She had an underlying buzz coming out of her clothes, mixing with her tone.

"Territory and Border patrol supply team, under Inuzuka Nikukyuu." He offered no more than that, still wary.

The woman relaxed, however. "Aburame Chou, leader of North Border patrol 6. We had a battle with three missing nins yesterday, so we appreciate you arriving when you did. Do you have a med-nin among you? The battle happened in the field, and only two of my team were present to combat the enemy. One died, and the other is in critical condition. They managed to incapacitate one of the enemies, after that his comrades, enemies two and three, left him behind. I decided not to pursue the enemy, since it would leave the post unprotected, but I have a group of kikaichu following them."

They followed her inside while she reported this, observing half-dry blood puddles on the floor. Chou patiently waited for Nikukyuu to inspect the house, then at his mark led Hana to another room containing their injured comrade.

Team Seven went to stand in the corner by the dining table, observing the commotion. A blond man was already sitting there, looking exhausted. He smiled at them and motioned them closer.

"Rank?" he asked.

They were practised enough now, that they knew exactly how to answer. Sasuke spoke up, "Rookie genin team, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura. On our first C-rank mission, helping the Territory and Border patrol supply team. Do you require us to do something?"

The man nodded. "Yamanaka Ha," he introduced himself. "Your leader and mine will probably retrieve the crates with supplies. We need you to keep this place secure while we wait for their return, since I'm out of chakra at the moment." He smiled wryly.

Which turned out to be exactly the case. Naruto's team was tasked to circle the house and let no one pass, since it would be the perfect time for the enemies to attack when the strongest combatants were away, leaving the house to genin, an occupied med-nin, an injured man, and a man with depleted chakra reserves.

"Remember that the missing nin that escaped were a C and B-rank threat respectively," lectured Chou. "Do not engage, fall back and alert the others. If some other threat is encountered, do the same."

Before they exited the house, Hana called them from the other room. Naruto's breath hitched, seeing a downed man covered in bloody bandages, Hana's hands glowing green as she hovered them over an open wound. Sakura beside him let out a pained sound, and Sasuke took a half step back.

Taking in their distress, Hana just inclined her head, then motioned to her dogs.

"Take Triplets with you when you go out. They will look out for dangers. Naruto, you are in charge of them, since you understand them best. It is only practical. Sasuke, you are in charge of security, direct your teammates wisely."

.

Stepping out the door, they split, Nikukyuu and Chou disappearing into the forest, Team Seven and the Triplets rounding the house, checking the building and moving outwards towards the forest. Naruto was amazed how seamlessly they worked, covering each other, silent and efficient.

With the help of nin-dogs they managed to locate most of the traps securing the post house, check them over and renew them if they appeared damaged. They were just returning back towards the house when one of the Triplets stopped, his ears and posture alerting Naruto to the danger. The team moved into formation, covering each other's backs, with the Triplets quietly growling towards the trees west of them. Naruto's ears tried to pick up anything that might identify the danger.

In the next moment, a huge man stormed towards them, a powerful swing of his axe sending them scattering. But for such a big weapon, he was surprisingly fast, his axe raised again and thundering down on them in a second, sending grass and rocks flying in all directions.

"Fall back!" shouted Sakura.

Naruto turned towards her just in time to see another man appearing behind her. He was smaller than the first, holding a wicked knife in each fist. With a thrust he stabbed the knife towards her unprotected back. Sensing him, Sakura tried to turn, managing to position her body so his attack landed in her side. The knife pierced her right shoulder, prompting her to cry out in agony.

 _At that moment, Naruto saw red._

"NO- _OOO!"_ he screamed, his rage fueling the sound into the loudest _roar_ he ever tried. It echoed through the forest, scaring the birds and making them take flight. The ninja stopped, stumbling at the killing intent innate in the horrible sound.

In his surprise, the smaller missing nin unconsciously twisted the knife in Sakura's side, making her let out a scream again. Naruto was already running towards her, twisters under the soles of his feet propelling him over the distance in a blink. Then he was in front of the attacker, teeth bared, making the ninja step back, releasing his hold on the knife. With Sakura now behind Naruto's back and safe, Naruto attacked. The red haze sharpened his reflexes, his eyes tracking every movement. Spinning balls of chakra appeared in each of his palms on a thought. Naruto struck, the spinning chakra meeting a knife raised to defend, deflecting it. Naruto followed the deflected arm, his suddenly sharp fingernails leaving bloody gouges in it.

Then a black cloud emerged out of nowhere, thousands of insects surrounding the missing nin, choking the yelp of surprise by covering his head and body completely.

Shaken from his trance-like state, Naruto noticed that reinforcements arrived. Aburame took over subduing the smaller enemy, while Nikukyuu and Hou took on the bigger one. They were _fast_ , evading the huge axe with ease and taking chunks out of the enemy while doing that.

Naruto was distracted from that fight by an approaching Hiru.

"Are you hurt, Naruto?" asked the gentle Akimichi, carefully scoping injured and wincing Sakura into his arms.

"Uh, no. No, I'm fine," assured Naruto. Then he remembered.

"And the others? The Triplets, Sasuke! Are they okay?" Naruto turned around frantically, searching for his missing comrades.

"They are fine, Naruto. I already removed them from the fight," reassured Hiru, "Let us return to the post house."

Naruto nodded, looking back where Chou and Nikukyuu were already tying up the enemy missing nin, the battle over.

With shaking legs and a racing heart, he followed the man, his mind still reeling.

 _For a few moments there, he really felt like the Kyuubi. He felt all powerful, full of rage and focused at the same time. It felt… indescribable!_

 _So this is what he used to be like._

* * *

 **About the names, I used the japanese dictionary for them.**

 **Nikukyuu - paw**

 **Chou - butterfly**

 **Ha - leaf**

 **Hou - direction**

 **Hiru - lunch, midday**

 **I noticed that Kakashi used rivalry to encourage training with Sasuke and Naruto, first in the Wave arc, then during the chuunin exams. What was up with that? Here, everyone is nice, coworkers happily helping each other. I think it is a much more healthy approach.**

 **I hope i did the fight justice. I wanted it to be fast, like I imagine ninja battles being.**

 **I hope you liked it!**

 **And also, thank you Applefritter for being a lovely beta and fixing my typos!**


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto sat at the table and looked on, wide eyed, at all the blood. He could see the Border patrol's third teammate through the open door, lying still on the bed, the bandages fresh white, but the old ones rusty brown in a heap on the floor. On the chair next to him, Hana was tending to Sakura's wound, the girl wincing in pain. The knife lodged deep into her shoulder, on the same height as her heart. If she hadn't turned when the missing-nin attacked, she would be _dead_.

The others were bloody too. Nikukyuu had red streaks up to his elbows, Hou's grey muzzle darkened and sticky. Everywhere he looked, there were specks of blood on clothing, on skin, on furniture.

Naruto looked down at this hands, at the red behind his fingernails. He must have gotten it from scratching the missing-nin who injured Sakura. On his left, Sasuke brooded quietly. He hadn't said a word since the fight.

Hiru and Chou returned from the basement, where they apparently stashed the missing-nin.

Ha leaned on the table opposite of them and got the attention of all of Team Seven.

"Every post has a basement equipped with prisoner cells. They prevent enemies from escaping, and provide a safe environment for interrogations. I spent two hours interrogating the first missing-nin, which is why I am out of chakra," explained Ha.

He smiled at each of them, soft and encouraging.

"You three did a wonderful job. While it wasn't your task to engage the enemy, your fight likely saved the lives of two Leaf ninja, mine and Toko's. With him injured and me exhausted, we wouldn't have stood a chance on our own. So, thank you."

Naruto perked up at that, instantly feeling better. Sasuke straightened from his slouch as well, and Sakura smiled.

"Alright, everyone!" Nikukyuu called for attention. "The battle was a success, we apprehended all of the enemy ninja, suffering only minor injuries. Good work. Now, report, best to get us all up to speed.

"I, Inuzuka Nikukyuu, and Aburame Chou, went to gather the crates containing supplies. With Akimichi Hiru, we each carried one, and safely delivered them here, to the post. Immediately after, we heard a howl, alerting us to the danger. I and Chou hurried towards the sounds of combat and engaged the enemy nins. Hiru covered our backs and looked out for surprise attacks, while extracting the genin and nin-dogs. The threat was quickly neutralised."

Chou took over after that.

"While I sent my kikaichu to follow the enemy upon first contact with them, they were unable to alert me quickly enough when missing-nins decided to double back and attack the post," she explained. "After the fight, I communicated with them, making sure no other enemy nin were on the loose. I report that this group of three missing-nins made no contact with any other person while the kikaichu were following them. The border should be safe, but we will double our security for the next two weeks. I will request backup as soon as we secure the post."

Nikukyuu nodded, saying, "My team will stay here until your reinforcements arrive. We will also need a retrieval team to escort the prisoners back to Konoha."

After that, each member gave a detailed report of their fight, the older chuunin carefully coaxing the genin to describe their battle. It was kind of comforting, to have more experienced ninja praising their work. Naruto could see the tension bleeding out of all of them, Sakura smiling tentatively and Sasuke looking proud of himself, instead of being quiet and withdrawn.

"So _you_ howled, Naruto? That's a great way to signal distress, our response was much faster when we could hear which way we would have to run to help you," said Hiru, patting him on the back with his huge hand.

"Uh, yeah," admitted Naruto. "I just channel my chakra to my throat and then I can roar. I think it's cool!"

"It was cool," chuckled Hana. "The Triplets tell me it stopped the enemy in their tracks. Every second is precious on the battlefield, every advantage counts. You sounded like the top dog." She winked.

"Yeah, you did that during our genin test as well, right Naruto?" asked Sakura. "I was shocked, but it stopped Kakashi too."

"Hn," smirked Sasuke. He _really_ didn't like Kakashi, Naruto noticed.

"Every Inuzuka knows that animal sounds and body language are very useful for a ninja. Communicating like that is either silent, or unnoticeable by civilians and most ninja. For example, I once hooted like a local owl when I had to give a signal to my teammate at night. No one noticed, and the mission was a success. You might want to practise that, study the sounds and behaviour of animals, and use them in your communication. Most common and local animals work best, people usually filter out the sounds they hear all the time," suggested Hana.

Naruto traded glances with his team and they grinned at each other.

* * *

The reinforcements took two days to arrive. During that time, Chou sent kikaichu to check out the Border patrol 5, making sure it wasn't attacked as well. When the bugs returned, she reported that the fellow patrol was undisturbed.

Sakura was healed, and even Toko, the guy who was too hurt to stand up before, was now able to awkwardly sit on his bed.

The prisoners were relieved of weapons and searched, then lightly interrogated. Ha explained the interrogation process to Team Seven, even if they weren't allowed to watch. As a Yamanaka, he used his clan's mind jutsus to forcefully question the first prisoner before Naruto's team came to the post, but conserved his chakra while interrogating the other two.

"A higher ranking team will come to take them away. Since their combat rank isn't that high, it probably won't be ANBU, but you never know. Hunter division usually deal with missing-nin," Ha explained.

Sasuke seemed interested at that, asking more about the ANBU, since Hokage-jiji mentioned he could join them someday.

The reinforcements turned out to be a whole replacement team, with a jonin as their leader. As soon as the replacement team was briefed on the situation, Chou's team headed back to Konoha, together with three other jonin serving as prisoners escort.

Naruto lived in a ninja village his whole life, observing shinobi and kunoichi of different ranks doing their jobs. But he never really saw Konoha as such an efficient machine, where there was protocol and precise orders for everything. He wanted to be Hokage, but he never saw the effects of such a job on real people and situations. That was… a lot of responsibility.

As soon as their Supply patrol got a clean bill of health, they continued their way to the Border patrol 5, business as usual. Naruto exchanged some wide eyed looks with Sakura and Sasuke at that. They just got out of a fight, but Nikukyuu and the rest acted as if nothing had happened!

Border patrol 5 had no contact with enemy ninja, so after exchanging provisions and information, they made their way back to Konoha.

.

They returned to the village on the twelfth day of the mission, and despite being tired and dirty, Naruto never felt more accomplished in his _life_. They even got praised by the Hokage for dedication and got additional pay for services rendered. It was awesome!

"Team Seven, you have a two day leave. On the third day, 10 o'clock, you are to report to my office, where we will discuss your situation and your complaint against Hatake Kakashi. Understood?" commanded the Hokage.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" they exclaimed, almost at the same time.

* * *

Over the next two days, Naruto mostly slept and ate ramen.

The fatigue only came after he returned to his apartment, when the adrenaline from the mission wore off. He did manage to fill his cupboards with food and give offerings to the two shrines, but other than that, he lazed around, channeling his inner Nara.

On the third day, Naruto was so restless that he showed up at the Hokage Tower half an hour early. Just as he went to step through the doorway, he saw Sasuke approaching from afar and chose to wait for him.

"Oi, Sasuke," he greeted, hands behind his head. "Looking forward to the meeting too, huh?"

"Yes," nodded Sasuke.

"We're early, but do you think Sakura is somewhere close too?" Naruto kind of liked the thought of them going in together, like a team.

Sasuke did some kind of cool shrugging move, but didn't protest when Naruto leaned on the wall to wait.

They didn't have to wait long.

"Sasuke-kun! Naruto!" waved Sakura, walking around the corner. "I was so nervous I left home early. I'm relieved I wouldn't have to wait alone."

Naruto grinned at her, then motioned to his teammates to follow him into the Tower.

They were stopped at the reception desk before the Hokage office, and told to wait. It turned out, Hokage-jiji had a meeting with Nikukyuu, a jonin commander, and Kakashi right then, each expressing their opinion on their team.

Naruto got all antsy again, jumping up and down with tension.

The clock just passed ten when they were invited in. Hokage-jiji sat behind his desk, with Nikukyuu and presumably jonin commander on the left, and Kakashi on the right. Team Seven walked to the desk, vibrating with anticipation.

"Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, I hope you recovered your strength after your mission," the Hokage remarked, smiling. After getting silent nods, he went straight to business.

"You are here due to the complaint you presented to me two weeks ago, regarding your jonin-sensei. After looking into the issue, talking to Kakashi, jonin commander Nara Shikaku, and Inuzuka Nikukyuu, I agree that the complaint has merit.

"Now, understand, the reality of ninja life is; you won't always like the people you work with. But they are your comrades, and each a ninja of the Leaf, thus you are expected to be able to work with them on missions, and inside the village. However, it is less than ideal that you had to experience that as soon as you entered the ninja corps. I believe it left a bad first impression, so returning Kakashi as your sensei would be… ill-advised."

Naruto exhaled in a gush, slumping sideways. Sasuke simply looked satisfied, and Sakura uncomfortable. Naruto knew she didn't like Kakashi, but probably didn't want to express that in the same room with the man.

The Hokage cleared his throat, then looked meaningfully to Kakashi.

"Ah, yes… Ahem," started Kakashi awkwardly. "Team Seven, I never really wanted to teach, but was pressured by certain people who believed I could rely my knowledge to the next generation. I rejected many teams before you, but after you passed my test, I decided to take you on. Even so, I wasn't a good teacher, since I have never taught anyone before. Coupled with my missions outside team hours, my leadership was less than effective."

There was an awkward silence, no one really knowing what to say.

"Hatake-san was removed from the jounin-sensei roster," spoke up the jonin commander, who really looked like a Nara, now that Naruto thought about it. "We are also thinking about giving potential jonin-senseis a lecture on teaching. Umino Iruka volunteered for the job."

"Iruka-sensei did? Awesome!" cheered Naruto. Sakura looked pleased as well, since she always liked studying.

"What about us?" asked Sasuke, looking serious. Naruto turned to Hokage-jiji again.

The Hokage musingly steepled his fingers. "Yes, that is the question. Nikukyuu has only praise for your conduct during your first C-rank mission. I could have given you a new jonin sensei, but the truth of the matter is, the most qualified jonin are already taken by other teams, or busy running missions. Usually, a team stays with their jonin-sensei at least half a year before starting to take missions with other ninja. After that, they can stay with that jonin as their direct superior, or go each their own way. Some genin still stick together even after that, depending on how effective they are as a team and how they compliment each other.

"You three don't yet have the defined skillset, so it is best you stay together for the time being. Nikukyuu offered to make you part of his Territory and Border patrol Supply Team, however that would make your time staying in the village very limited. Also, constant C-rank missions simply aren't fit for rookie genin. So, for now, you are under the supervision of Inuzuka Hana in the veterinary clinic. Nikukyuu says you learned a lot from her. You will report with her every day at 8 o'clock. I will notify you when I figure out another, more permanent arrangement for you. But never fear, your training will not suffer for it, I will make certain. How does that sound?"

Naruto traded looks with his teammates. Hana was nice and took time to explain everything to them while they were on the mission. She knew a lot, and was strong. To learn she liked them as well, and was even willing to teach them, made Naruto so happy. Also, to hear Nikukyuu praise them in front of the Hokage brought a sunny grin to his face.

Sakura looked excited. She spoke with Hiru and Hana a lot, mostly about medicine, plants and ninja diet. Naruto also had a feeling she liked Hana because they were both girls. And only girls ever understood girls, even if Hana wasn't a fangirl.

Sasuke look satisfied as well, even if Naruto thought he would be more skeptical. But then, Sasuke sort of came to respect Nikukyuu, which Naruto never thought would happen, ever. So maybe he respected his opinion, and liked Hana because she was an Inuzuka too? Who knew with the stuck up bastard…

"That sounds cool, Jiji," Naruto said for all of them, thumbs up.

"Wonderful," smiled Hokage-jiji.

He turned to Nikukyuu, saying, "Please show them to the clinic," before motioning Nara-san to him.

The meeting seemed to be over. Nikukyuu motioned at them, already halfway out of the office. Naruto followed, but couldn't help glance back to Kakashi. The man looked… smaller somehow, his slouch more pronounced, the orange book nowhere in sight.

He looked _sad_.

"Naruto!" called Sasuke, prompting him to look away. His teammate was waiting, looking at the scene with his dark eyes.

"Come on," he grunted, still kind of staring past Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto smiled, and followed.

* * *

 **Toko - sickbed (since the guy was bedridden most of the time, heh)**

 **This chapter was hard, since I wasn't sure what to do about Kakashi. Well, this came out, I hope you like it.**

 **Kakashi will still interact with the team, since I kind of feel sorry for him. He has a ton of issues, lost everyone that kept him sane, his only friend is Gai of all people (not really sane either), and now his team ditched him. Poor Kakashi…**

 **Next chapter, hopefully spirits again. And thanks for all your comments, they make my day!**

 **(Do you people recommend any additional tags for AO3?)**


	8. Chapter 8

"So cute!" squealed Sakura quietly, hands clenched to her chest, like she had to keep herself from reaching out. Naruto wasn't as starry eyed, but he had to admit that the animal was really cute.

The flying squirrel blinked its huge black eyes.

Sakura cooed.

The team has been working in the Konoha Animal clinic for three days, and it already looked like Sakura found her dream job. They were surrounded by adorable animals day after day, mostly by Inuzuka nin-dogs, but also other nin-animals.

Nin-animals were apparently different than summons. They were bred by humans and made able to channel chakra, or simply made more intelligent. Konoha had nin-dogs outside the Inuzuka clan, as well as a few different species of nin-birds, such as messenger hawks. And every sick or injured animal was brought to the Animal clinic.

"Is this a nin-flying squirrel?" Naruto asked Hana. Sasuke stood a few steps away, looking highly sceptical.

"No, not this one," laughed Hana. She carefully approached the skittish animal and began examining it.

"It's just a squirrel. Someone found it injured on the ground beneath a tree, and brought it here. We usually don't heal wild animals, unless the finder pays a small fee. We are a ninja funded clinic after all. But the woman who brought it in felt bad for it and paid, so we will try to heal it."

Sakura's eyes got even wider. Sasuke inched a bit further away from her, like he might catch her cuteness obsession if he stood too close.

.

The work at the Animal clinic was fun and educational. Hana and other vets taught them all sorts of things about animals, how Konoha used them, how to care for them. Sakura warmed up to anything even remotely cute right away, and was learning healing and caring for the animals. Sasuke was a bit disappointed at first, but Hana made them spar with vets and Inuzukas who had the time, so that placated him. The Uchiha also showed interest in birds, and Naruto saw him walking around with a hawk on his arm the other day, after one of the vets showed him how to reinforce skin with chakra to prevent punctures made by claws. He even seemed content now. It boggled the mind!

Naruto just… liked animals. He was cleaning the cages the first day when he realised; he was a _fox_. Not a real fox, of course, being a spirit, but at least _fox-shaped_. So, he figured he had more in common with animals than he thought before. He could roar, he had whiskers, his ears and nose worked better than human do. In the heat of battle, he even grew claws!

So he started to pay much more attention to animals. Sadly, there were no foxes at the Clinic, possibly because they weren't really popular in Konoha after the Kyuubi attack. Not popular at all. Just like Naruto wasn't.

* * *

Camouflage gear. Check. Leaves and branches. Check. Snacks. Check. Goggles. Check. Ropes and traps. Check. Naruto was pretty sure he now got everything he might need to catch the thief.

Ever since he returned to Konoha and re-started his daily rituals of leaving offerings and spirit orbs, the food thief has come back. Naruto wanted to catch him or it in the act, but it seemed the thief knew just when to strike to escape detection. Drastic measures had to be taken.

Everything was ready just as the sun started to set. Naruto hunkered down in his ambush made of branches and camouflage fabric, setting to wait for his hidden traps to catch his prey. He waited as the dark crept over the sky, as owls hooted in the forest, and the stream leading to the pond sounded extra loud in the hush of the night. He started feeling sleepy at midnight, so he ate one of the nin-pills to give himself a boost. They tasted horribly bitter, but worked like a charm, his eyes all but popping open, when they were closing before.

In the first morning light, Naruto heard a rustle different from all other distant animal sounds. Sending chakra to his ears, he listened as hard as he could. There was a weird sound, like clicking. Then another sound, a sound he knew well. Someone was snacking on food!

A jank on the rope by his elbow sprang the traps, one after the other, and a loud squawk pierced the clearing, sounding angry and pissed off. Naruto burst out of his hiding place, incensed.

"Aha! Thief!" he yelled.

He raced to the shrine, inspecting his catch. Only one trap was successful, a rope thrown over a branch ending in a loop made to catch anyone who stepped in it. Dangling head down from it was the strangest creature Naruto has ever seen. Even hanging upside down above Naruto's head, it was obviously smaller than him. It had leathery, or maybe scaly skin, in muddy green colour, skinny webbed hands and feet, a short beak and beady eyes that bulged out of it's face. It wouldn't shut up, either, sounding somewhere between a duck and a frog. Baffled, Naruto circled around it, spotting a turtle shell on its back and a ring of dark hair on its head, with a bald spot in the center.

It just had to be a spirit!

Giddy, Naruto beamed at it, jumping around the dangling spirit.

"You're a spirit!" he yelled, "This is so awesome!"

"Put me down! Put medownputnedownputme-!" screeched the thing.

"No way," laughed Naruto, "you stole my offerings!"

"Didn't!" the thing defended itself. "It was a spirit shrine, there was no other spirit there, I checked. So food was free to take, everyone knows that. Putmedownputmedown-"

Naruto squinted at the struggling spirit. It had a point, but he spent so long trying to catch it he felt it deserved what it got.

"Fine fine, but if I cut the rope, you aren't allowed to run away," demanded Naruto.

"Putmedownputmedownput-"

Naruto pulled a kunai from the thigh pouch and took a few steps before he leaped. A slash and the rope was cut, the thing falling on its head.

"Ow!" it croaked, trying to get it's legs under it. Naruto watched it wearily for any signs of trying to bolt. It did try to make for the pond, but after just a step it face planted into the ground again. With palms pushing against the ground, it started to raise the torso, but was shaking so much it gave up.

"What's with you?" asked Naruto, frowning.

It gave him a few pathetic squeak in answer, then sighed.

"My patch is dry," it admitted.

"Huh?"

"The hairless patch on my head, it's dry. A Kappa should always have a wet patch, or one looses its power. You turned me upside down, you land-crawling human spawn! The water drop slipped off, so my patch is dry!" It gave him a mean, creepy look, still quacking pathetically.

Naruto puffed up indignantly.

"Oi, watch it! Do you even know who you're talking to, huh?" he screamed, pointing with his finger demandingly.

"A rock-gnawing, mud-loving, dirty human!" Kappa hissed back.

Naruto peeled his lips back, showing teeth menacingly. Channeling chakra to his vocal cords, he let out a rumbling growl, causing the smaller spirit to shut up.

"I'm Kyuubi no Kitsune, the most powerful fox spirit," he snarled.

"Eep!" hiccuped the Kappa, it's eyes bulging even further out. "Kyuubi-sama?"

 _Kyuubi-sama?_ thought Naruto. It was kinda confusing to be called by a honorific, but also empowering. That was what the Hokage was called!

"Uhuh! I'm Kyuubi," he confirmed.

Kappa peered up at him, still flat on the ground. "Kyuubi-sama was killed years ago, right after he attacked that human, chakra using village over there. You don't look like Kyuubi-sama."

"I wasn't killed, I was sealed by the former Hokage to look like a human. But I'm not," pouted Naruto. This was still a sore topic for him, but he felt obliged to tell it to the spirit. Because, well, it was a real, actual spirit before him. A spirit just like him, even if it was small and ugly and kinda pathetic.

"Prove it," Kappa croaked defiantly.

Naruto would scoff at that, since the weak thing could hardly demand anything of him. But it got him thinking; how _could_ he prove he was the Kyuubi? Giving Kappa the stink eye, he lifted his shirt, exposing the bare stomach. Hands forming the tiger hand seal, he concentrated, trying to feel like he did the last time he really felt like the Fox. Memory carried him back to his fight during the C-rank mission, fighting the axe wielding missing-nin. The rage and power he felt then, bubbling beneath his skin like an inferno, begging to be used. For that moment, he really felt like the most powerful being on earth, his fury unceasing.

He could feel it now, rising from the seal, brought forward by the memory of his anger. Opening his eyes, he locked his gaze with the Kappa, watching its reaction. It looked at him with a look of both fear and awe, trying to crawl a bit further away from him, but not running in fright.

"Kyuubi-sama!" it clicked. "Kappa meant no disrespect, Kyuubi-sama, Kappa didn't! I'm just a lowly spirit, dying with no water to wet my patch, have mercy."

Naruto was shaken from his state, blinking at the creature.

"Dying?" he yelped.

"A Kappa dies without water, Kyuubi-sama. A wet patch is its last defence against the cruel, dry land." It stretched its hand towards the pond, quivering. Now that Naruto really looked, its hand started to look greyer. "A drop of water, Kyuubi-sama. A drop, and this Kappa will be your servant for life!"

The spirit really did continue to look worse and worse right before his eyes. Alarmed and panicky at the thought of losing the first spirit he ever met to something he himself had done, Naruto raced to the pond. He scooped as much water as he could with both hands, careful not to spill too much of it. He ran back and splashed it on the spirit's head. When nothing happened, he did it again, and again, until a big, fat drop formed on top of its bald patch.

Finally, Kappa seemed to be getting better, scrambling to all fours, looking like an overgrown turtle. It was still croaking dryly, but it was green again, so Naruto thought it worked.

"Thank you, oh Kyuubi-sama!" bowed Kappa, flustering Naruto. Still, it felt good. Coupled with the honorific at the end of his name, it felt like the kind of acknowledgement Naruto always craved, and was hoping to achieve with becoming the Hokage.

Only this time, he got it because he was a demon.

* * *

Naruto swinged between glee and disappointment ever since he met Kappa. On one hand, it was a spirit, someone who respected him, someone who had more in common with him than humans. On the other hand- well, Kappa really was pathetic. It didn't even have a name, no special abilities, and was fairly ugly. It couldn't go far from a body of water and didn't know much about spirits in general, no matter how much Naruto pestered it for answers.

All in all, Kappa was more of a pet frog, eating his food offerings and accidentally splashing him with water then apologizing. Still, no matter how annoyed Naruto became, his days were kinda nice. His team got on well enough, Hana was a great teacher, and he had proof other spirits existed outside old tales.

One early morning, Naruto heard a knock on his door just as he was getting ready for a shift at the Vet clinic. A chuunin was outside, waiting only long enough to inform him of summons to the Mission office, then left. Hopeful, Naruto did as he was told, since this might be the day his team got assigned to a new jounin-sensei. Or maybe get a badass mission!

.

Later, running South through the Fire country forests, Naruto wasn't sure the mission they got was an awesome one. Team Seven ran together, together with two chuunin and an older genin, all of them led by Hatake Kakashi. From their briefing on the particulars of the mission, Naruto surmised his team was being sent as a show of force and a diplomatic envoy.

There was something brewing in Wave country. Apparently, a genin team under a jounin Sarutobi Asuma, who taught Naruto before, had a mission to Wave. They were guarding a bridge builder, but learned mid mission the client lied about the dangers. The mission went from C-rank to high B-rank, possibly A-rank. That made Asuma abandon the mission, choosing to return to Konoha and report that Wave was being threatened by a business tycoon named Gato, who hired at least three missing-nin.

While Wave country was outside Fire borders, border patrols detected and dealt with many hired swordsmen and thugs spilling over the border anyway. They were getting bolder, encouraged by Gato's invulnerability. This team, under Kakashi, was brought together to gather further intel from Border patrols, then follow the thugs to their employer, assessing the damage done to the civilian population, as well as locating the ninja. Konoha did not tolerate missing-nin so close to its borders.

Resting in the posts of one of the Territory patrols, Team Seven shared a meal, all three of them monitoring the team leader.

"Kakashi-san seems different," commented Sakura quietly. Naruto agreed.

Sasuke didn't seem pleased, but even he nodded. Gone was a distracted, dismissive air they knew and hated. Instead Kakashi was quiet and focused, even cold, but a good leader so far. The chuunin, a Hyuuga and a Yamanaka, both seemed to respect him, and with the genin kenjutsu user it seemed more of a hero worship.

Naruto could see Sasuke scowling in Kakashi's direction, so he nudged him in the side.

"Hey, you know what Hokage-jiji said. We have to listen to his orders and complete the mission, but we don't have to like him. We have to be _professional_ ," he said, stressing the last word while wiggling his eyebrows comically.

Sakura giggled, and reluctantly, Sasuke grunted his affirmation.

* * *

 **Hi! So sorry for the long wait, everyone!**

 **So here you have the spirit I promised, and then we are moving to a totally different Wave arc.**

 **Also, you should all google flying squirrels, they are the cutest!**


	9. Chapter 9

The group of seven Konoha ninja stood on the shore overlooking Wave country. The usual fog had lifted, affording them an unobstructed view of the islands. Naruto could just about see the half finished bridge straining towards the mainland.

"Yamanaka-chuunin, Hyuuga-chuunin," Kakashi turned towards the two ninja, "run over the water to Wave, gather intel on our former client Tazuna, as well as anything you can sniff out about Gato."

They nodded, and Kakashi switched his attention towards the four genin.

"We will follow east along the coast, towards the Fire country peninsula that is dividing Wave from the Water country sea. Our aim is to assess the spread of Gato's corporation and its illegal activities."

Naruto and the others nodded.

"In two days time, before sunset, we will meet in Ooari village, located in the Shellfish bay formed by the Hi no Sei peninsula." He motioned to the chuunin. "If you are late, we will assume there was trouble and come to extract you."

"Yes, sir!" was his answer, before the group separated, the chuunin running to the water's edge then continuing over water. Naruto managed a last jealous look over his shoulder, wishing he could walk on water as well, before he had to follow Kakashi.

.

The next few days were tiring. It turned out that Gato's corruption spread farther than Konoha thought, infesting the small settlements on the coast. People lived in fear, but lacked the funds to hire ninja who would take care of the problem.

Naruto and the others approached the problem with grim faces and heavy hearts. They stopped in each village along their way, asking questions and fighting the thugs terrorising the people there. Most of them were wanted criminals and would face civilian courts, and hang for their crimes. It was dirty work, without glory in battle, even if the villagers were grateful and fed them well in recompense.

After freeing one such village from a group of bandits, quite more skilled with various weapons than all others before them, the shaken people showed them a hidden field of poppy. The buildings on the edge of the clearing stored all the things needed to begin an illegal drug operation. That prompted Kakashi to summon a nin-dog, entrusting it with a message to the closest Border Patrol. They would come and take care of the field, destroying the crops, and alerting Konoha that the situation turned much more serious.

That night, Team Seven shared a room in a house belonging to a widow who just lost her last son to the thugs. It was an exhausting day, Team Seven grouped their sleeping mats together after a bath that got rid of blood stains. In the fight, Sasuke had to come to Naruto's defence, after the later was overwhelmed by four bandits. Sasuke killed two of them, while Naruto killed one. The last one sought to flee, only to be caught by Sakura's ninja wire, its strong steel loping his leg clean off. All three were shaken, despite seeing battle before. It had been a 'kill or be killed' situation, but after the fight ended and they laid to rest for the night, Sakura couldn't help but inch her futon towards Naruto's, who was setting to sleep in the middle. Tentatively, she touched his forearm, seeking reassurance. Too exhausted to be startled, Naruto caught her hand in his, lining them in front of his face. He could feel the tremors shaking her.

On his other side, Sasuke laid still, one arm thrown over his eyes. During the fight, they flashed red for a moment, signalling he was close to awakening his Sharingan. Naruto could see how much it drained him. Before he realised it was a bad idea, he stretched his hand over the gap between them, and took Sasuke's free hand in his. Sasuke froze, waiting long seconds, the hand over his eyes squeezing into a fist, skin bleached white.

"Sasuke-kun," whispered Sakura, propping herself on one elbow to peer over Naruto.

"Please," she pleaded.

Another moment and the tension broke, Sasuke turning to his side and gently pressing his forehead to Naruto's shoulder. Naruto waited with bated breath, awed, when soon after Sakura did the same on his other side.

Staring up at the ceiling, Naruto started smiling. This is what a real team was like. A family, closer than blood. His heart swelled, and he vowed to himself. He would protect his team with everything he is, with all the power of a demon. Sakura and Sasuke, they were _his_.

.

They reached Ooari village on the agreed upon day, the sun's last rays lighting their way. The chuunin actually beat them there, renting rooms in one of the two available inns. The village was quite a bit bigger than all the others they came across, one of many in the Shellfish Bay. It was a profitable little place, Naruto learned.

"I asked the innkeeper," explained Sakura while they were sitting on the pier with their food, feet dangling over the water, "they grow all sorts of sea fruit here, the bay shielding them from high waves and storms. Wave, however, is more of a fishing community, and this whole region is pretty much depended on the sea."

"But they don't have a ninja village, right?" asked Naruto.

"No. This side of the peninsula usually hires Konoha ninja, and the other side hires Kiri-nin, from the Hidden Mist village. Well, technically, the Ooari and surrounding villages belong to the Fire country, except any islands, such as Wave. But the border isn't really enforced by ninja, since no other country fought us for this land. This territory is rich in sea life, but not much else, and the whole Hi no Sei peninsula is overgrown with marshes and rainforests, and its coast is inaccessible due to mangrove forests. No one wants to patrol _that_."

"Hn, so Gato operates on this side of the peninsula?" asked Sasuke.

"I'm not sure," Sakura shook her head. "He's a shipping mogul, so I think he might have ships that sail around it, to the Water territory."

"Is that where the missing-nin came from? The ones that Gato hires?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"The deep forests of the Hi no Sei peninsula have always been a good hiding place for missing-nin." They all turned around at the voice, to where Kakashi was lounging against one of the logs supporting the pier and forming a low fence.

"When you three have finished eating, come back to the inn. We'll discuss more about Gato and the hired missing-nin then."

The Team Seven watched him as he turned and disappeared between the houses.

"I don't get him at all," said Sakura plaintively. "He was mean, lazy and dismissive as a sensei, now he is super competent and strong, but cold. But the others on the team all respect him. It's like we never see his real face!"

A beat of silence, then Naruto burst in snickers, unable to help himself.

"Naruto! Oi, I was serious!" scolded Sakura, but Naruto could see her fighting a smile. Sasuke was smirking at her, causing her to huff. She took her last bite of food, then stood up.

"Come on you guys. Let's not be late."

* * *

"You can't find Tazuna?" Sakura asked, looking bewildered. Kakashi just nodded gravely.

"Tazuna never reached Wave, it would seem," said Yamanaka. "We searched for him, discreetly asking the villagers, but it seemed he never returned. After hiring a rookie genin team in Konoha, they followed the direct route to Wave, but the team soon grew suspicious and confronted their employer. They left him soon after making him confess he was being threatened by Gato and at least three Kiri missing-nin. They terminated the contract on the spot, and left. No one knows what happened to Tazuna after that." He shrugged. "If he was smart, he stayed in Fire country, where the missing-nin don't usually dare to venture. But he might be dead for all we know."

The Hyuuga nodded and took over the report.

"There was no sign of ninja in Wave. That means that they either completed their mission, or left the islands to search for Tazuna on the mainland."

They all looked at Kakashi, who was silent for a while, seeming to weigh their options. Naruto shifter impatiently. He hoped Kakashi would order them to find Tazuna and save him, since the thought of Konoha ninja just leaving a man in danger made him uncomfortable.

"Our first priority is locating Gato and missing-nin. I suggest we split up. Hyuuga-chuunin, you are in charge of Uzumaki-genin, Haruno-genin and Uchiha-genin. Your mission is tracking down Gato. Our reports say he spends his time on his ship, but he hasn't been spotted in Wave and we hadn't seen him along the way to this village. You will tackle the peninsula, keep as close to the sea as the mangrove forests allow."

The Hyuuga straightened up even more. "Yes sir!" he affirmed.

Naruto exchanged looks with his teammates, filled with determination. They would find the villain for sure!

"I will lead the others," continued Kakashi, "and with the help of my nin-dogs we'll try to sniff out the missing-nin. We will only engage them if we can overpower them, but our primary objective is identification and assessment of their skills."

.

They set out early in the morning, running along the shore of Shellfish bay and making their way south.

The further they went, marshlands and thick tropical forests of the peninsula made their search for Gato's ship near impossible. They left small villages and rocky beaches behind, and soon the only way to move through the thick growth was by slashing the vines with kunai and constant use of tree-walking technique.

Hyuuga Kiwamaru started teaching them water-walking technique as soon as he learned they haven't mastered it yet, and they had to learn it quickly, since they had to practice while travelling. Luckily, they had enough practice with chakra control that they all learned it quite quickly, but they still had to fish each other out of the murky water all too often. At their midday stop, Naruto was wet, dirty and hot. The team all huddled together on top of the highest tree, turning their faces to the slightly cooler breeze coming from the North and nibbling on their rations.

* * *

It happened so suddenly! The group had to move a bit further from the shore when the mangroves became too thick for them to pass, forcing them go the long way around instead.

Then they were attacked. With no more warning than a loud whoosh, there was a huge wall of water coming their way. It slammed into them and knocked them off their feet, strong currents separating Naruto from his team. When Naruto tumbled to a stop between the twisted roots, he was alone. He could hear the sounds of battle somewhere to his left, and he struggled to get up. Thick mist suddenly filled the woods, dampening the sounds, leaving him disoriented.

Naruto gritted his teeth and ran. Stumbling through the thick growth, he saw a flash of pink. Sakura! He hurried towards her. Before he could reach her, however, a kunai bit into his side. He cried out in pain, turning to find an enemy. There was no one there. No matter. He had to reach Sakura first, check if she is alright. Determined, he tore the weapon from his flesh, gripping it defensively in his hand. A few steps and another kunai came flying towards him. He evaded is just in time, throwing himself at his teammate and dragging her behind a huge root.

"Sakura," he whispered while keeping guard and trying to track the enemy. He could see a gash on the side of her head, bleeding sluggishly.

"Sakura," he tried again, squeezing hard on her arm. She flinched, eyes flying open.

"I got you, Sakura. Shush! There is someone out there," he told her. The faintest of sounds had Naruto diving down, pulling his teammate with him, narrowly avoiding another blade. He pulled her on his back and took running.

Where was Sasuke? Where was Kiwamaru-san?

Faster, faster! Sakura was holding on tight, leaving his hands free. A swish in the fog, and she threw a kunai, while Naruto picked up speed again.

"We need to find the others," she said.

"I know," grunted Naruto, "But I don't know where they are."

"Hide for a moment then double back. We might lose him," advised Sakura, referring to their attacker. Naruto nodded.

A few evasive manoeuvres, and they were running back to where they came from. They could hear battle again soon after. Naruto's sense of direction was shot, he had no idea where they were anymore.

"Set me down," insisted Sakura when they stopped. She slid from his back, then they crawled over the slimy rocks to peer around the tree obscuring them.

Naruto's eyes widened and he could feel Sakura flinch at his side. Sasuke!

He stood surrounded by five ninja in nondescript clothing, bleeding and with Sharingan flashing in his eyes. Most of the ninja were injured, but not fatally, and Sasuke looked exhausted. He stumbled, narrowly evading an attack. Then another. Naruto growled. They were toying with him. Attacking him one after another, like he was prey! Naruto wanted to rush out there, beat them all up until they stopped moving, he was so angry.

A nudge to his side and he snapped his eyes to Sakura. She wasn't looking at him, but pointed with a shaking hand. There was Kiwamaru-san, laying not far away. And he was… His body was positioned all wrong, his dove white clothing painted red. Naruto swallowed. He was definitely… dead.

Naruto wanted to _destroy_ them!

"Stay here," he ground out, holding Sakura in place with a hand on her shoulder.

He was reaching, reaching deep down, where his power was sealed. He reached it, and grabbed it, and _pulled_.

And then he roared, running at them, tearing at them. He was so angry, mad with it. He could see their blood flying, and didn't care. He was a demon, and they took something of his. He roared again, feeling vicious satisfaction when it stopped them in their tracks, bought him time to reach them. They tried to kill him, but he was fast. He was invincible. Grabbing a hand holding a sword, shattering the wrist. Claws ripping the skin. The sound of thunder in his head, getting worse and worse. Searching, searching for the enemy, to destroy them all!

"Naruto!" screamed a voice.

"Naruto, please!"

He turned around, coming face to face with shocked black eyes. Sasuke!

"Sasuke, you're alright!" he breathed, his voice hoarse.

"Yes, it's all right," said Sasuke, swaying where he stood.

Sakura reached them in that moment, engulfing them both in a hug, crying.

"Sasuke. N-naruto. I-" she hiccuped.

"We need to get out of here," gasped Sasuke, sinking to his knees.

Naruto looked at them, feeling helpless.

"Right," he nodded.

"Kiwamaru-san?" said Sakura, and looking over to the body Naruto understood what she meant. They couldn't leave him there. But-

"I can't carry you all."

"You'll have to. The eyes," said Sasuke firmly.

"What?" asked Naruto.

"Byakugan eyes. We can't leave him, they could steal his eyes."

Naruto shuddered. Right.

He could feel strength leaving him, but he managed to make two shadow clones. One picked up Sasuke, careful with his injuries, while the other set to carry Kiwamaru's body.

Badly shaken, they fled.

* * *

 **Hi no Sei peninsula - Fire Spirit salamander peninsula (after Giant Japanese salamanders, you should google those)**

 **Ooari village - Shellfish village**

 **Kiwamaru - kiwa - edge, extreme**


End file.
